Latest News
Final Edition of 'Small Steps' Dundee Women's Trail Leaflet Launched
The fourth and final edition of the 'Small Steps' Dundee Women's Trail leaflet has been launched, offering children and families an engaging way to learn about notable women connected to Dundee.
Between October and December 2024, The McManus’s Creative Learning Team collaborated with Dundee Libraries and Dundee Women’s Trail to provide 92 primary 5/6 pupils from St Ninian's RC Primary School and Rowantree Primary School the opportunity to create a new, child-friendly leaflet. This edition builds on the existing ‘Small Steps’ leaflets released between 2021 and 2025.
The project aimed to help young people explore the lives of seven more women from the Dundee Women’s Trail who have made significant contributions to society in Dundee and beyond.
These women include:
…
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Art Angel Project Celebrated at The McManus
The Creative Learning team at The McManus: Dundee’s Art Gallery & Museum held a showcase of artwork to celebrate their successful partnership with Art Angel.
Art Angel is a local organisation at the forefront of supporting people with mental health problems. The charity aims to support people in their attempts to get better and stay well through active participation in the arts.
The McManus collaborated with Art Angel to offer a group of 15 adults the opportunity to engage in a mixture of creative activities including printmaking, photography, painting and collage, which were delivered both onsite and through outreach across the two organisations. With behind-the-scenes curatorial talks, guided gallery tours, and access to take home art materials, the project encouraged…
The McManus: Dundee’s Art Gallery & Museum to receive funding from Northwood Charitable Trust
The McManus: Dundee’s Art Gallery & Museum, managed by Leisure & Culture Dundee, will receive funding of £75000 over the next three years from the Northwood Charitable Trust. This backing will allow the museum’s Creative Learning Team to develop a new learning & engagement project called ‘McManus Connections’ which will focus on helping children, families and young people most in need.
This project will deliver creative opportunities including outreach sessions, museum- based gallery tours, holiday programmes, large-scale co-delivered events and co-creation with groups of new learning resources and activities.
The funding will also allow the team to expand on support for positive mental health within educational settings, families, non-traditional family groups…
The Burns Club Banner at The McManus
Dundee Burns Club Banner to Go on Display in Time for Burns Night
As Scotland prepares to celebrate Burns Night on Saturday 25 January, The McManus: Dundee’s Art Gallery & Museum has put a historic Dundee Burns Club banner on display for the next four weeks.
This important piece of cultural heritage, beautifully crafted from blue and brown silk, shows two hands reaching across inside a wreath and within a scroll lies Burns’ phrase, “For Auld Lang Syne” and the words, “The Dundee Burns Club Instd 1860,”
The banner holds historical significance, as it was featured during the unveiling of the Burns statue which still proudly sits outside The McManus, then known as the Albert Institute. The members of the Dundee Burns Club, formed in 1860, raised money to have this…
The Art of Winter
The Art of Winter
After the excitement of Christmas and Hogmanay it can be hard to enjoy the often glum winter weather. Here are a few examples of how winter has inspired artists in Dundee City’s Collection – and you can enjoy the beauty of the season from the warmth of the indoors!
Winter Bouquet, watercolour by Anne RedpathAnne Redpath studied at Edinburgh College of Art, subsequently raising a family and only returning to painting once they were grown. She made her reputation as a painter of still life and became one of the most respected Scottish artists of the twentieth century. Redpath blazed a trail for women artists. She had many solo exhibitions in Edinburgh and London and her work was much sought after. In 1952 she was elected a Royal Scottish Academician,…
Local Support for Artists and Makers #VACMAScotland
Bursaries of £500 and £1000 available
Deadline: Tuesday 4 February 2025 (5pm)
Visual Artists and Craft Makers are invited to apply for bursaries of up to £1000 for their creative development.
Funded by The National Lottery through Creative Scotland in partnership with a range of local authorities and arts agencies across Scotland, the Visual Artist and Craft Maker Awards (VACMA) will support artists at all stages of their career to develop their creative practice.
This can include researching a new body of work, experimenting with new materials, attending courses, artistic mentoring, masterclasses and residencies, among other activities.
The VACMA programme offers fixed bursaries of £500 for early-career applicants who have less than 5 years’…
New Exhibition Inspired by the Weather Set to Open in Dundee
Whether it's blowin' a hoolie or the sun is crackin' the pavey, Scotland, its people and its language have long had an enduring relationship with our changing weather.
A Weather Eye, opening on Saturday 9 November at The McManus: Dundee’s Art Gallery, includes work by an extraordinary range of artists who have captured the rain, snow, cloud and even sun of Scotland, telling the story of how it affects our lives and our moods.
Our unpredictable weather is also reflected in our Scots language and dialects and each of the artworks has been matched to a Scottish word, highlighting the importance of language; Scots boasts 421 different words for snow. In this exhibition, lesser known Scots words such as gowstie, ralliach, fissle and feuchter have been matched to works on display…
Dundee Naturalists' Society 150th Anniversary Display Opens
A display at The McManus: Dundee's Art Gallery & Museum, celebrating the 150th anniversary of the Dundee Naturalists' Society, has opened to the public.
Formed in 1874, it is the longest-running natural history society in Dundee. It has had a continuing connection with McManus since its inception, initially in the form of the Albert Institute. J.B. Corr, one of the first museum natural history curators, was secretary of the society and others became presidents during the twentieth century.
Set up to champion Science and technology in Dundee and act as a networking organisation for interested Dundonians, it organised field expeditions, lectures from prominent Scottish Scientists and exhibitions called conversaziones, which attracted thousands of visitors.
However,…
New boxset of singer-songwriter Michael Marra’s work launched at The McManus
The launch of a limited edition boxset charting the career of one of Dundee’s most loved singers took place at The McManus: Dundee’s Art Gallery & Museum last night with stars from the music and literary world sharing an evening of celebration and song with the musician’s family and friends.
Award winning Scottish Author Val McDermid sang Frida Kahlo’s Visit to the Taybridge Bar and American singer-songwriter Loudon Wainwright III travelled from the US to perform a version of Marra’s classic Hermless while daughter of Michael, Alice Marra sang Heavens Hound with Duende Voices to an invited audience.
A Dundee native, Michael Marra was one of Scotland’s foremost cultural figures. Known as the "Bard of Dundee,” his work over more than four decades often transcended the…
McMarras Dnudee
Lovely to try new things and get surprised at how well I can do!
Across 2024, The museum’s Learning Team delivered an ambitious eight-week engagement project called ‘McMarra’s Dnudee’ alongside THAT (Tayside Healthcare Arts Trust) and their participant groups within The McManus. We're so proud of what was achieved that we're now entering the project into the Seriously Social Awards 2024. The awards celebrate the social value & social impact of organisations like ours across the UK.
The project was co-designed to provide person-centred learning experiences and creative participation for people marginalised by their long-term health conditions such as; Stroke, Acquired Brain Injury, Dementia, and others.
Inspiration from the developing archive of Dundee singer-song writer…
Bronze Age jewellery restored for the first time in thousands of years
An early Bronze Age necklace and bracelet have been painstakingly restored by experts at National Museums Scotland. The jewellery can be seen in its original form for the first time in over 4000 years and is now on display at The McManus: Dundee’s Art Gallery & Museum.
Forty-two jet beads and nine jet ‘plates’ were discovered in a Bronze Age burial at the former Balgay Estate, near Dundee in 1870. At the time, the Balgay Estate extended as far as the shoreline of the River Tay. For over a century the loose beads were thought to come from a single piece of jewellery, but recent research by Dr Alison Sheridan, Research Associate at National Museums Scotland, has revealed they belong to a matching necklace and bracelet set. In-depth analysis has allowed conservators…
