What are the opening hours?

Monday 9am - 5pm Tuesday 9am - 5pm Wednesday 9am - 5pm Thursday 9am - 5pm Friday 9am - 5pm

WHALE Arts

WHALE Arts is a non-profit community arts organisation in Wester Hailes, Edinburgh. We offer groups, shows & free sessions.

Check www.whalearts.co.uk for what's on.

15/09/2026

⭐️ Wester Hailes Open Exhibition ⭐️
📆 23rd October 2026 to 23rd January 2027
📍 WHALE Arts

We are hugely excited for the return of the Wester Hailes Open Exhibition! This year's theme is 'Our Stories', and is a celebration of the people, places and experiences that make our community what it is. There will be an incredible array of artwork on display so make sure you take the time to pop in and check out this very special exhibition.

🎉 Opening Celebration 🎉
📆 Friday 23rd October
🕐️ 1pm - 4pm

Join us as we launch the exhibition! Our usual community meal will run from 1pm to 2pm, and will be a little extra special for the occasion. Enjoy some light refreshments afterwards, a creative activity for everyone to take part in, and a chance to celebrate the creativity and hard work of the artists and our local community.

🎨 Special Saturday Open Day 🎨
📆 Saturday 24th October
🕚️ 11am - 3pm

Can't make it to the launch? Come along on the Saturday, explore the exhibition and join in with some creativity activities for all ages!

After our opening weekend, the exhibition will run Monday - Friday, 9am - 5pm, until 23rd January.

-------------------------------------------
Anyone who lives or works in Wester Hailes can submit work to the exhibition.
This year’s theme is Our Stories - a celebration of the people, places and
experiences that make our community what it is. Get in touch to find out more
about how to submit your artwork: [email protected] / 0131 458 3267

The Wester Hailes Open Exhibition is supported by Creative Scotland, The City of Edinburgh Council and the Creative Community Hubs Network.

10/09/2026

🍂 Autumn crafting at Let's Create 🍂

Our participants have embraced the change of season and have been busy stitching and creating some beautiful autumnal felt garlands 🍂 🧵

09/09/2026

🐈️ Crazy cats 🐈‍⬛

Another little look back at our summer youth programme - this time we took inspiration from our favourite furry friends! 🐾

Take a little peek at some of the creations that came out of this brilliant and fun session 🐱

08/09/2026

A little look back at one of our summer youth programme sessions ☀️

This session was all about creating miniature worlds - using cardboard, paint, pens, craft materials and plenty of imagination!

It was fantastic to see our young people get stuck in and build these wonderful, unique little worlds.

07/09/2026

🍎 Join us in the WHALE Arts community garden for apple pressing! 🍎

We'll be chopping up our homegrown apples, popping them through the apple press and enjoying some fresh juice.

Our community meal will run as usual from 1pm - 2pm, so pop in for a free lunch and enjoy an autumn afternoon with us! 🍎🍂

No need to book, just turn up!

🍏 Apple Pressing
📆 Friday 9th October
🕛️ 12pm - 3pm
📍 WHALE Arts

04/09/2026

📽️ Friday film screening: Hoppers

We've got a brilliant film lined up to kick off this season's free screenings at WHALE Arts! Come and join us to watch Hoppers, an animated science fiction comedy that follows Mabel, an animal-lover who transfers her consciousness into a robotic beaver to communicate with animals and save their habitat from destruction.

Our free community lunch runs from 1pm - 2pm, so pop in for a delicious meal, and stay for the film.

📽️ Hoppers
📅 Friday 25th September
🕐 2:30pm - 4:30pm
📍 WHALE Arts
🎟️ Free. No need to book.

Bring your friends and family - everyone is welcome!

This screening is part of the 2020/27 Local Cinema programme. Find out more and check out what's coming up here: whalearts.co.uk/local-cinema

03/09/2026

☕️ WHALE Arts POD café - usual café hours resume from next week 🍰

We'll be open:

📅 Tuesdays and Wednesdays
🕥 10:30am - 2pm
📍 WHALE Arts

The perfect spot to take a break, have a chat, meet up with a friend, enjoy a treat and a cuppa, or just dive in from the weather! 🍵🌦️

Homemade soup, cheese toasties, baked treats and hot drinks 🥪 🧁 🍵

Pop in and say hello!

01/09/2026

Our Friday films are back!

As part of the Local Cinema Network, we've got some brilliant family-friendly films lined up!

Our weekly free community meal 🍽️ will run from 1pm - 2pm, so turn up a little early, enjoy lunch with us, and then settle in to watch the film.

First up, we have the fantastic Pixar film, Hoppers - mark the date in your diary!

📽️ Hoppers
📅 Friday 25th September
🕐 2:30pm - 4:30pm
📍 WHALE Arts

📽️ Inside Out 2
📅 Friday 30th October
🕐 2:30pm - 4:30pm
📍 WHALE Arts

📽️ How to Train Your Dragon
📅 Friday 29th January
🕐 2:30pm - 4:45pm
📍 WHALE Arts

These film screenings are free and family-friendly. Children must be accompanied by an adult.

No need to book, just turn up!

26/08/2026

Good news! We've secured funding for a new harvesting rainwater system 🌧️ 💦

We are excited to announce that WHALE Arts is one of eight organisations chosen to benefit from the Adapted Cultural and Creative Buildings Fund, a new National Lottery-funded pathway programme co-designed and managed by Creative Scotland and the Scottish Futures Trust. The programme supports cultural and creative organisations across Scotland to make practical improvements to their buildings and take action to adapt to the impacts of climate change.

This funding will enable us to install a rainwater harvesting system, capturing rainwater from the roof of our building and reusing it for flushing our toilets. This will decrease our mains water usage and make our building more sustainable and resilient.

It's an important and practical step in our ongoing commitment to reducing our environmental impact.

We are incredibly grateful to Creative Scotland and The Scottish Futures Trust for this support, and we're looking forward to getting started on this project.

The Scottish Government

25/08/2026

🌻 Meet Jenny! 🌷

We're delighted to introduce Jenny, our new Community Gardener and the latest member of the team here at WHALE Arts.

Jenny has recently joined us and will be helping to develop and care for our wonderful community garden - creating a welcoming space that supports wellbeing through nature, creativity and connection with others.

We're hugely excited to have Jenny onboard, and can't wait to see how the garden grows and develops under her care.

We asked Jenny a couple of questions to get to know her better:

What are you looking forward to doing as part of your new role?
I'm really looking forward to getting to know the garden and the people that use it, and making it feel like a welcoming space for everyone. I'm excited to see how the space evolves over my time at WHALE.

What do you enjoy doing outside of work?
Outside of work I enjoy spending time with my family and friends, and my dog. I have a particular love for traditional crafts and can always be found knitting, leatherworking, basketmaking, sewing, felting... you name it!

Address

30 Westburn Grove
Edinburgh
EH142SA

Opening Hours

Monday	9am - 5pm
Tuesday	9am - 5pm
Wednesday	9am - 5pm
Thursday	9am - 5pm
Friday	9am - 5pm

Telephone

+441314583267

Website

http://www.whalearts.co.uk/

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when WHALE Arts posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Featured

The Montessori Nursery and Primary School
EH126AU

Want your school to be the top-listed School/college in Edinburgh?