Scottish Women Artists: 250 Years of Challenging Perceptions

8 June to 2 September 2024

The F.E. McWilliam Gallery and Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council are delighted to present Scottish Women Artists: 250 Years of Challenging Perceptions. Bringing together the work of over 40 artists from The Fleming Collection, with additional loans from National Museums Northern Ireland and the Wilhelmina Barns-Graham Trust, this exhibition highlights key women artists who have changed society’s view of what women should and could do, and the significance of work by women artists in Scotland’s cultural history.

Women have been shaping artistic communities in Scotland for well over 250 years. However, the deep-rooted legal, political and financial constraints of a male dominated society, denied countless women the opportunity to seek or develop an artistic career. Scottish Women Artists foregrounds those women who successfully challenged contemporary expectations and artistic norms to shape the story of Scottish art from the eighteenth century to the present day.

Today, Scottish art covers a huge variety of creativity and approaches towards what art is, and women play a crucial role in this network. For this reason, some may argue that all women exhibitions are no longer needed, and yet the legacy of neglect in museums, academies and publications experienced by women, still has a knock-on effect today. Seen in another light, this is an exhibition that tells the story of Scottish art through artworks that just happen to have been created by women.

Free Entry