Boatshop, Scottish Maritime Museum, Irvine Harbourside Saturday 6 June until the end of July | Free

The Cost of Progress is a free exhibition by emerging local artist Casey McCracken, exploring consumerism and environmental change in North Ayrshire.

Casey grew up along the North Ayrshire coastline. When she returned as an adult, she was struck by the impact of consumerism and waste on the natural spaces she once knew. This exhibition is her response.

The exhibition features a collection of striking cyan-blue artworks made using the cyanotype process, a 19th century photographic technique with a low environmental impact. Unlike conventional photography, it uses only UV light, water and iron-based salts. In this way, the artworks themselves reflect the exhibition’s message about how we consume and interact with the world around us.

The works feature imagery such as drowning flowers, beehives, landfill sites, junk mail and pylons. Together they capture both the beauty and the fragility of our environment, and highlight the urgent issues of pollution, overconsumption and environmental damage.

As part of her research, Casey, who also volunteers at the Scottish Maritime Museum, worked with Irvine Clean Up Crew. This gave her first-hand insight into the growing local challenges of littering and fly-tipping.

The exhibition builds on the Museum’s own exploration of marine pollution and environmental damage through community co-produced exhibitions and events in recent years.

The Cost of Progress invites visitors to reconsider their relationship with the spaces they inhabit and to reflect on our collective impact on biodiversity loss and overconsumption.

Free to view during normal Museum opening hours.