I've seen some unusual buildings transformed into art galleries in the past, but nothing quite so dramatic as the former funeral parlour hearse garage transformed into Glasgow's Hidden Gallery.

Owner Joe Mulholland has had past lives as a lawyer and a journalist but his present occupation as gallery director seems to be the one he's been heading for all his life, not least as a showcase for an extraordinary collection of photographs he acquired more than four decades ago.

Joe was then living in Glasgow's West End next door to an elderly Canadian born lady called Margaret Watkins. Joe and his wife Claire befriended her and were regular visitors.

Then, 18 months before she died, Ms Watkins presented Joe and Claire with a box which she insisted they didn't open till after her death.

She died in 1969 at the age of 85 but the Mulhollands - whose daughter had just been diagnosed with leukamia - didn't open the box for another two years.

At that point, Joe discovered that quiet, modest Ms Watkins was actually a photographer of note - a student and later teacher at Boston's Clarence White School of Photography. her box of photos turned out to contain many of her most famous images - from a controversial kitchen sink still life series to social commentary, beautifully lit nudes and portraits (among her most famous, the composer Rachmaninov).

He discovered further negatives of photos, which hadn't been developed, of 1930s Scotland and it's these which are displayed on the basement floor of the new gallery.

He had them developed by printer Robert Burns who used traditional paper and techniques to ensure they're as close to Margaret Watkins' vision as possible.

Ms Watkins first came to Scotland in 1928 to look after two elderly aunts. Their ill health and the second world war kept her there for decades and by the 60s, when the Mulhollands met her, she made no mention of ever being a photographer.

"She'd had disappointments in her professional and personal life," says Joe.

"That's why she was so keen to take a break from New York and come here for a breather.

"But I think she always intended to go back. After she died, we found out she'd packed a bag with her camera in it. i think that's why she left me the box.

"She knew i'd understand the importance of what was in it."

And this exhibition is just the beginning of a revival of interest in Margaret Atkins' work.

Among the earliest visitors to the Hidden Gallery show were staff from the National Gallery of Canada who plan a solo exhibition of her work in 2011.

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Well done Richard Wright - as yet another artist based in Scotland wins the Turner Prize.

He follows in an illustrious line of Scotland-based winners - from Douglas Gordon back in 1996 to Martin Creed in 2001 and Simon Starling in 2005.

And winners aside, Scotland punches way above its weight in terms of nominees.

Glasgow School of Art was quick to point out that they've produced 30 per cent of the prize's nominees since 2005, including Lucy Skaer, who made this year's shortlist.

Both she and Wright are also graduates of the school's Master of Fine Art Programme - which has also helped shape Claire Barclay, Rosalind Nashashibi and Martin Boyce, who recently represented Scotland at the Venice Biennale.

The course is one of only a handful in the UK to offer a two-year postgraduate course in fine art - and that combined with artists staying on in the city after they've completed it, seems to be making a huge difference.

According to Professor Seona Reid, GSA's director, Wright's win is testament not just to the art school but to the strength of Glasgow's thriving contemporary arts scene and the city's reputation as one of Europe's leading centres for the visual arts.

Of course not everyone agrees with the choice.

Wright's delicate gold leaf decoration - temporarily crafted onto walls in interesting spaces only to be painted over afterwards - may have won over the judges but art critic Duncan MacMillan - author of Scottish Art 1460-2000 said in a recent review of the Turner Prize exhibition that he found Wright's contribution "mildly decorative" but lost in the vast gallery space.

Wright's assertion that his work "distorts our perception of an architectural space" was dismissed as a "meaningless cliche".

And it would be unfair to assume that Glasgow is the only artistic hub.

Thanks to the Ingleby gallery - which staged Wright's most recent exhibition - and both Doggerfisher and the Fruitmarket gallery, which have championed artists like Lucy Skaer, Edinburgh's reputation as a centre for contemporary art is also firmly on track.

And it's there Richard Wright and Martin Creed will make their next work - commissioned with Expo money for the 2010 Edinburgh Art Festival.

Creed will create a piece around the iconic Scotsman stairs (although not a recreation of the Lights Going On and Off, as you can see that there most evenings anyway).

Wright meanwhile will focus on two different stairwells - in the towers of the Dean Gallery.

If it's purchased, it will become his first permanent artwork here in Scotland.

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I've always had a love/hate relationship with pantomime.

Loved it when I was growing up and appearing in the chorus of the local am-dram production (good luck to everyone in this week's Dumbarton People's Theatre show, Aladdin).

Hated it in my teens when it meant an enforced break from all that angsty drama we loved to go see.

And learned to love it again as a parent - when you get to witness first hand the delight of your offspring at the sheer anarchy of being encouraged into a theatre to shout, sing and throw things!

Those with similarly ambivalent views of panto will still find it hard not to be touched by this week's release of footage from Scottish pantos from the 30s, 40s and 50s.

Part of a two year research project by the University of Glasgow, the footage has been released on DVD, screened in cinemas and forms part of an exhibition which is touring various theatres during panto season.

Like today, these early pantomimes required the stars of their day - comedians like Dave Willis, George Best, Bert Denver, Jack Anthony and Harry Gordon.

And they in turn passed the baton to the next generation who continue to keep the tradition going today.

"There are core things that happen in pantomime," says Professor Adrienne Scullion, James Arnott Chair of Drama at Glasgow University and the academic leading the project.

"Principal boys, principal girls, dames, goodies and baddies and those follow through the centuries. But pantomime is always evolving. There's always reference to popular culture, television or film, whether that's the X factor or whatever that may be, it keeps it fresh."

At the King's Theatre in Glasgow, it's singer Keith Jack taking that role - runner-up in the TV series Any Dream Will Do, a number of fans had come to see the show just to see him.

For those of a slightly older vintage, Karen Dunbar and Gerard Kelly might do the trick.

"I never ever expected to do panto," says Kelly, who celebrates his 20th panto at the Kings this year.

"I came here 20 years ago to do Mother Goose with Wallie Carr and literally fell in love with it the minute I started doing it. It is the most fantastic thing to do as a performer."

Not all actors will be so convinced. There's still a view that panto is the poor relation of theatre, even though for most theatres, a successful panto season will sustain more challenging work through the rest of the year.

And in the current climate, it seems most pantomimes are bearing up well.

But even two shows a day for the next two months doesn't beat Scottish panto's record-breaking seasons of the 1930s.

"This is nothing compared to panto seasons then which ran and ran," says Professor Scullion.

"Most famously the pantos at the Royal Princess - now the Citizens Theatre - which would start in December and run through to April or even May.

"At one point they held the record for running for 243 performances which even on three shows a day is quite good going."

If traditional panto is not your scene, there's plenty of other shows to choose from.

From the conventional Beauty and the Beast to the wonderfully unconventional Ya Beauty and the Beast to the brief but charming tale of the Puddock and the Princess at the Scottish Youth Theatre.

With an audience aged from 3-7, the cast of three have their work cut out.

The promenade performance can't begin until the puddock (played by Philip Napier) has won over his little audience and answered several ad hoc questions about the show.

Like any good panto, we have to guess passwords, sing songs, jump up and down like frogs and answer questions.

When the Puddock changes back into a prince, there's little surprise from the audience.

"Did you know that was going to happen," says the newly transformed prince.

"Yes," says my five year old, "we've read the book."

Aladdin is at the Kings Theatre in Glasgow until January 17th 2010
The Princess and the Puddock is at the Scottish Youth Theatre until December 24th.

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