Works by some of Scotland’s most celebrated artists will travel to rural schools, libraries and village halls next month (September), as The Argyll Collection hits the road for RSA200, the Royal Scottish Academy’s bicentenary celebrations.
The Argyll Collection on Tour will give rural communities across Argyll the chance to see paintings by renowned artists, including Elizabeth Blackadder, John Byrne, Leon Morrocco, Robin Philipson and David Donaldson, as this unique collection takes some of its works directly to local audiences.
The whistlestop tour celebrates one of Scotland’s most distinctive and special public art collections. The Argyll Collection was started in 1960 by author and campaigner Naomi Mitchison, along with local art advisor and teacher Jim Tyre.
They aimed to build a pioneering world-class art collection for young people in rural and remote communities in Argyll, and together they collected more than 170 artworks by contemporary Scottish and international artists, supported by the former local authority.
The Argyll Collection is managed by the Culture, Heritage and Arts Assembly, Argyll and Isles (CHARTS) in partnership with its owners, Argyll & Bute Council, and the people who care for it continue to champion that founding principle of providing access to fine art for rural and remote communities.
The tour is part of RSA200: Celebrating Together, a nationwide programme of events and exhibitions marking 200 years of the Royal Scottish Academy. The Argyll Collection on Tour includes venues in Campbeltown, Rothesay, Dunoon, Glendaruel and Colintraive, where audiences will get the chance to see some of the works in the Argyll Collection by renowned Royal Scottish Academicians (elected members).
Visitors will also get to hear the stories behind the works and the Collection, and take part in creative workshops and learning activities. The tour is delivered by CHARTS.
Roslyn McKenna, CHARTS Project Manager for the Argyll Collection, said the tour was a brilliant opportunity for people in Argyll to see some of the works first-hand.
She added: “It’s fantastic to be taking these works into rural communities around Argyll, and for people of all ages to get to experience them up close without having to travel.
The Argyll Collection on Tour is completely in the spirit of what Naomi Mitchison and Jim Tyre wanted to build – a world-class collection that people in Argyll could be proud of, and could engage with in their own communities.
We’re really looking forward to sharing stories about the Collection in the way it was always intended to be used.”
Kathleen O’Neill, Director of CHARTS, added: “We’re delighted to take part in RSA200 in partnership with Argyll and Bute Council, to shine a light on the council-owned Argyll Collection.
This tour will not only share artworks of the highest calibre but will amplify the more than six decades old and remarkable vision of the former local authority, Naomi Mitchison and Jim Tyre, to create such a powerful collection for location in schools – and which has been situated in numerous other exhibition and engagement contexts since.
With the concept of the Argyll Collection standing the test of time, it’s now both a privilege and fitting for the RSA200, to enable more people to discover the work of its Royal Academicians in new places close to home.”
