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McManus and THAT Partnership Helps Participants with Long-Term Health Conditions
Drawing inspiration from the current exhibition, A Weather Eye at The McManus: Dundee's Art Gallery & Museum, the museum's Creative Learning Team has delivered the fifth partnership project with THAT (Tayside Healthcare Arts Trust).
The project was co-designed to provide person centred learning experiences and creative participation for people affected by long-term health conditions such as stroke, acquired brain injury, chronic pain and others.
In this eight-week block, Artists Laura Lyon and Nicola Wiltshire drew upon, A Weather Eye, to inspire participants to experiment with a wide range of fine art and mark making techniques, including working with collage, chalks, oil pastels, paints and combinations of these materials to explore texture within their work.
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Quest to find out more about museum benefactors
Today, the McManus 168 supporters group officially launched a project that aims to collect information on the original 168 subscribers who contributed to The Albert Institute, now known as The McManus: Dundee’s Art Gallery & Museum. The project is part of the celebrations to mark the 150th anniversary of the museum being established in 1867 and is funded by Heritage Lottery. Working with two of Scotland’s most prominent historians Professors Jim Tomlinson and Chris Whatley, the project team comprises a number of specialists and archivists alongside those with no previous experience but plenty of enthusiasm.
Research has already uncovered that funding for the Albert Institute came from the community. The list includes nautical instrument makers, grocers, hecklers,…
New exhibition highlights museum’s care for collections
A new exhibition ‘Dundee Preserves: Caring for the City’s Collections’ opens at The McManus: Dundee’s Art Gallery & Museum on Saturday June 10. For 150 years The McManus has collected, preserved, interpreted and displayed the City’s collection for the benefit of its visitors. As the museum celebrates its special 150th anniversary in 2017, this new show provides a glimpse into how curators and conservators care for, research, store, document and conserve the City’s collections, revealing the day to day activity that often takes place behind closed doors.
Over the last ten years, staff have worked hard to become a fully accredited museum service. This is a rigorous procedure, overseen by the national body Museums Galleries Scotland, which ensures that museums follow best…
The McManus getting ready for biggest day of the year
The McManus: Dundee’s Art Gallery & Museum is getting ready to host their biggest day of the year on Saturday 20 May as part of this year’s Festival of Museums, where they will be celebrating 150 years at the museum by telling ‘The People’s Story’. There is a packed programme of entertainment planned where event goers can join museum staff and partners for an exciting day and evening of activities and experiences.
Highlights include Pop Up Performances from ZeroThree15 Theatre Company where the galleries’ paintings and sculptures will come to life. Look out for the ‘Twa Auld Wifies’, ‘The Highlander’ and Queen Victoria and Prince Albert aka ‘Vic & Bert’. There will also be the chance to find out more about the current learning and engagement project, ‘The People’s Story…
Ship Models go on permanent display at The McManus
Today, a new exhibition has gone on permanent display at The McManus: Dundee’s Art Gallery & Museum as part of their 150th anniversary celebrations. The Maritime Quarter, tells the story of Dundee’s rich maritime heritage and the city’s links to the wider world. Located in the Dundee & the World gallery, a new bespoke case houses over 30 models from the city’s collections. Alongside a range of model sailing ships, war ships and half hulls, the exhibition also features Dundee Perth and London (DP&L) models acquired by the museum.
The display has been inspired by the purchase of eight DP&L Shipping Company models in 2015. Leisure & Culture Dundee campaigned to raise the money and with support from the National Fund for Acquisition alongside seven other public…
Fire and Stone
Fire and Stone is a fascinating exhibition which explores the history and archaeology of the Laws of Monifieth and the process behind creating contemporary responses to ancient metal and stone artefacts.
It is a continuation of the ‘Reflections on Celts’ spotlight tour which was a partnership with National Museums Scotland and the British Museum, and which also featured a bronze replica of the Monifieth Crescent by local artist Roddy Mathieson. This exhibition now examines the process behind making the crescent and also looks at other artists who have been inspired by archaeology.
At the centre of the exhibition is a replica of the Monifieth II Pictish stone which has been commissioned from stone carver David McGovern. The cross- slab is carved from sandstone quarried…
Loadsaweeminsingin’ first choir in residence at The McManus
The McManus: Dundee’s Art Gallery & Museum have announced that the Loadsaweeminsingin’ singing group are to be their first choir in residence. The choir have already started rehearsing and are delighted to have found a new home where they will also be participating in creative collaborations at the cultural attraction as part of the museum’s 150th celebrations.
This year, The McManus the Learning & Engagement Team are leading the People’s Story, an ambitious outreach project that will explore the relationship between Dundee’s diverse communities, the museum and its collections. The residency is seen as a key addition to this process. The choir will perform at events throughout the year, enhancing opportunities the museum has to engage with audiences and highlight the…
The McManus gets ready to put 150th Anniversary celebrations on the road
Today, a campaign to celebrate The McManus: Dundee’s Art Gallery and Museum’s 150th Anniversary got underway with the unveiling a spectacular image of the ‘Tay Whale’ and ‘Waldella, Dundee’ by David Batchelor wrapped round a double decker bus. The bus design provides a precursor to the full McManus 150 programme and the official anniversary on September 12, 2017. The team at the gothic revival style building will be focusing throughout the year on the important role Dundee’s best loved building has played, past and present as a major cultural attraction.
Highlights of the McManus 150 programme will include a bespoke show ‘Museography: Calum Colvin reflects on The McManus Collections’. The museum’s Learning & Engagement Team will lead the People’s Story, an ambitious…
Extension of ‘Reflections on Celts’ exhibition celebrated
The McManus: Dundee’s Art Gallery & Museum is celebrating an extension to the ‘Reflections on Celts’ exhibition until Sunday March 26, 2017 with the online release of a dynamic 3D reconstruction and visualisation of the Iron Age hillfort on Dundee Law from the exhibition.
‘Reflections on Celts’ is a spotlight tour organised in partnership with National Museums Scotland and the British Museum. It also features two Iron Age mirrors – the British Museum’s Holcombe mirror and National Museums Scotland’s Balmaclellan mirror – which tell very different stories, and help us to understand the relationships between communities in Britain 2,000 years ago. The McManus is the last leg of the tour and the exhibition was due to come to a close in December. Organisers have now…
Scottish art takes centre stage in Dundee
The McManus: Dundee’s Art Gallery and Museum is staging two exhibitions on Scottish painting which feature artworks from the City’s nationally significant Fine Art collection from Friday November 4, 2016.
‘Sense of Place’ focuses on landscapes by Scottish artists, starting with the pioneering work of the Glasgow Boys. Inspired by French practice, ‘The Boys’ moved out of the studio to paint out-of-doors, en plein air. With this new spirit of naturalism, artists were able to capture the effects of light and the weather, breathing new life into Scottish art.
Throughout the twentieth century the strong tradition of landscape painting continued with the vibrant and colourful paintings by the Scottish Colourists. The inter-war years are represented by the intellectual and…
Appeal to find former Dundee Museum Club members
Curators at The McManus: Dundee’s Art Gallery & Museum have launched an appeal to find members of the Dundee Museum Club from the 1960s and 70s. The club worked on a model of Finavon hillfort in 1970 that is now featuring in the current ‘Reflections on Celts’ exhibition and staff are keen to get in touch with former members.
The scaled down model followed a 1930s excavation report that showed the original Finavon hillfort in Angus had walls over six metres thick and between three and five metres high. The fort has been dated to the 7th century BC. It was excavated by Professor V. Gordon Childe in the 1930s. In the interior of the fort he discovered a well, a row of dwellings with hearths and evidence of spinning, pottery making and metal working. At the end of its life the…
