'Summerhall is invaluable': Meet the artists who could be priced out of creative hub

Exclusive Arts and culture Construction Planning Applications Summerhall Art Entertainment Festivals Leisure Property Pubs and bars Edinburgh The many faces of Summerhall fear being priced out   Arts and culture Construction Planning Applications Summerhall Art Entertainment Festivals Leisure Property Pubs and bars Edinburgh Exclusive -Pomaco Edinburgh Correspondent Jamie King spends his days in a loft high above Summerhall. (Image: Peter Dibdin) This article is brought to you , and has been written . It does not necessarily reflect the view of The Herald. Jamie King may have schizophrenia, but that condition no longer defines him. In and out of hospital in his youth, today, Mr King is an artist, spending his days painting self-portraits in a small loft high above the hustle and bustle of Summerhall. "In the eight years I've been at Summerhall, I’ve painted a lot of self-portraits,” he says, speaking about his work and the important role that the arts venue plays in his life.  “With all the chaos in my mind, sometimes I hear voices, sometimes I get very paranoid.  “When I come into this space, it's peaceful and so creative. I can feel the creativity telepathically almost from this place. And it gives me a great, creative, calm space to be.” Mr King is just one of more than 100 artists and small businesses who call Summerhall home.  He fears that plans to turn part of the complex into a hotel or student flats will tear apart its close-knit community. “The support from Summerhall is invaluable,” he tells me. “Everybody kind of makes sure people are okay. “There's a community spirit that kind of emanates when people visit Summerhall. You can't just dismiss that. You can't just take that away.” Option 1 - one of the proposals for the future of Summerhall. (Image: AMA) Under plans , several buildings at the site could be knocked down to make room for the new development, including the 1970s-era building on Summerhall Square and the so-called ‘cranked wing’ along Hope Park Terrace. Dr Ali Afshar, who runs AMA, has promised that arts provision will continue at the site, which housed Edinburgh University's Royal Dick Veterinary School until 2011. However, Nicholas Bone, artistic director of theatre company Magnetic North, tells me that artists have found it difficult to trust that developers have their interests in mind. “Being somewhere like Summerhall, where there's a whole range of artists from other art forms, is fantastic for us,” he notes as we chat in his office, surrounded . “It's really important to us to be in a place where there's that opportunity to have a photographer down the stairs and there's an illustrator over there and a jewellery maker there.  “It's going to need investment to continue to thrive,” he acknowledges.