The University holds an extensive collection of historical objects and contemporary art which allow staff, students and visitors to explore our University’s history.
- Collect RGU's History
- Collection Loans
- Create Exhibitions
- Community Engagement
- Offer Volunteering Opportunities
- Support Teaching and Research
Exhibitions
Regular exhibitions and events are held in many venues across campus.
Current Exhibitions
Previous Exhibitions
Dome
Sir Ian Wood Building
September 2024
Gray's School of Art alumnus Ade Adesina RSA presents Dome, an exhibition taking viewers on a journey of exploration and imagination. Finding inspiration for his work through politics, Ade considers the over-consumption of world resources and reflects upon the need for a shift towards sustainable solutions.
DRAWn-INg
Sir Ian Wood Building
February 2024
The exhibition of drawings by Scott Sutherland School and Gray’s School of Art alumni presented a selection of inspirational work highlighting the beauty and utility of the hand made drawing – still an invaluable skill for an architect.
Passing the Torch
November 2022
Passing the Torch embraced the legacy of Gray’s School of Art ceramics department and showcased an integral part of the cultural vibrancy of the University, being the only institution to offer ceramics provision in Scotland.
Silenced Voices
Concourse Gallery, Sir Ian Wood Building
September 2022
Exhibition displayed during the Media, Communication and Cultural Studies Association conference, selected with the input of Sarah Pederson (Creative and Cultural Business School) to reflect the theme of the 2022 MeCCSA conference, 'Silenced Voices'.
Emergent
Look Again Project Space
June 2022
Exhibition of artworks and artefacts from RGU Art and Heritage Collection displayed alongside contemporary works created by Gray’s Graduates in Residence. The GIRs selected an item from the collection to draw inspiration from and produced an artistic response to it in this project supported by RGU Art and Heritage.
Higher elevation
Concourse Gallery, Sir Ian Wood Building
August 2022
Showcase of work from RGU Art and Heritage Purchase Award winning graduates of the Scott Sutherland School of Architecture and Built Environment.
Passing the Torch
Gray’s Gallery, ground floor
November 2022
Featuring contemporary ceramics side by side with pieces from the RGU Art and Heritage Collection, this exhibition celebrates the timeless nature and enduring techniques of ceramics and wood firing.
Gray’s degree show exhibition
Gray’s School of Art, level 2
June 2022
Showcase of RGU Art and Heritage Purchase Award winning works by Gray’s School of Art graduates, 2019-2021.
Crossings
Gray’s School of Art Gallery
March 2022
An exhibition selected to celebrate the journeys of Gray’s School of Art Alumni, featuring award winning works created by recent graduates and former graduates and professional artist/tutor compositions. Educational crossing points presented in a kaleidoscopic snapshot of wonderful Gray’s School of Art talent through time.
Impressio
May 2024
A collaborative exhibition curated by Gray's School of Art alumnus Ade Adesina RSA, celebrating his passion for printmaking with his personal selection of art works held within RGU's Art & Hertiage collections.
Communicate, Conceive, Connect
September 2023
A thought-provoking exhibition curated and organised by student Sára Irlanda. The audience was invited to view parenthood through the eyes of the midwife, father, mother and the new-born child with the aim of breaking taboos about pregnancy and maternity care.
ICAF - Augmented Fashion
November 2022
The International Conference on Augmented Fashion was a collaboration between the Computing and Fashion and Textiles departments from RGU, University of Aberdeen and Donghua University in China. RGU Art & Heritage supported by loaning work by Fashion and Textiles graduate Beth Davidson as part of their drop in exhibition at the conference.
Developing the Negative
February 2020
Developing the Negative documents a search for a mothers’ lost family. Gray’s School of Art MA Photography student, Jennie Milne explored the journeys of people affected by displacement, trauma and loss in a series of portraits.
Higher Elevation
November 2019
An exhibition featuring RGU Architecture Purchase Award winners work. We look forward to following our graduate's progress and their careers in the future.
Fresh Spirit
September 2019
Celebrating a new semester we welcomed the new intake of Gray’s School of Art students to the Gray’s School of Art building via an Expo of art works and objects from the RGU collections. The exhibition included work by professional artists such as Joyce Cairns and Will Maclean alongside some of our most recent graduates work and a drawing in print block form of the Gray’s building which was designed by Michael Shewan, an architect truly inspired by international architect Mies van der Rohe.
The Wrong Idea Forever
May 2019
RGU Art and Heritage welcome back Gray’s alumna Nicola Williams to Gray’s School of Art. Nicola was brought up on a farm in rural Aberdeenshire and she studied painting at Gray’s School of Art 1999-2003, before moving to London to complete her MA in Painting at the Royal College of Art. The rural environment she grew up in continues to provide her with inspiration and sources of imagery for her work.
Engage 2019
March 2019
For many years Fashion and Textiles tutor Charlie Hackett has requested the loan of recent RGU purchase award winners work in order that current students may see the various approaches and techniques used by former Fashion and Textiles students. This year is the first year in which students from the department have had the opportunity to visit the new collections repository, which greatly increases engagement with the collection. An opportunity to focus on more recent works, materials used and ideas developed by award winners.
Selfie
February 2019
An exhibition featuring examples of self portraiture by students and graduates of Gray’s School of Art.
ORBIT OF NEPTUNE
January 2019
An exhibition of selected works recently displayed in GDF Suez and Engie offices in the city. Featured work by Stuart MacDonald OBE and Lennox Dunbar RSA
The Collection
The University holds an extensive collection of historical and contemporary art along with physical objects which present a window into the history of teaching in the North East of Scotland and a physical link with our alumni. Our aim is to provide students and visitors with a catalyst for engagement and an opportunity to explore and learn. Whilst preserving and presenting artworks and artefacts, the collection is undeniably about people and represents a reflection in their time and of their achievement. It is there to take us on a journey, to study, to question and to inform.
Architecture
The Architecture Collection contain student drawings, teaching equipment such as lantern slides and ephemera relating to the history of the Scott Sutherland School of Architecture and Built Environment.
We also hold landscape architecture and art books in our Antiquarian Collection which includes items pre-dating the founding of Gray's School of Art in 1885.
Certain volumes were awarded as national prizes as a result of medals won by Aberdeen art students from the Science and Art Department at South Kensington. Many volumes have been donated over the years by the school alumni, including prominent Aberdeen architects.
In 2007, the university began to award annually, purchase awards for project work by exceptional students from the annual Degree Show. These contemporary additions complement the existing 1920s to 1970s collection of student drawings. Around 140 volumes were donated by the late John Maclennan, having belonged to himself or his father, Harbourne Maclennan, both partners in the long established firm of Jenkins and Marr.
Art & Design
The art collection from Gray's School of Art consists of approximately 2,000 artworks in a variety of media representing Drawing and Painting, Contemporary Art Practice, Communication Design, Three Dimensional Design and Fashion and Textiles. Many art works held in the collection are by respected members of the Royal Scottish Academy and successful working professional artists and Designers.
We collect works which are donated and retain material which reflects the history of Gray’s School of Art.
RGU Art and Heritage Purchase awards are presented annually to successful Gray's School of Art students whilst award winning works are retained in the collection.
Science & Engineering
The Pharmacy collection largely consists of teaching equipment and photographs relevant to the first School of Pharmacy in the UK.
The School of Engineering and Chemistry was originally established in 1910, following the creation of Robert Gordon's Technical College. Engineering is represented by a variety of objects and supporting material intended as teaching aids, including many electrical measuring devices.
Of particular interest is a copy of Landseer's portrait of James Bell, a founding member of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society. The painting, believed to be by one of Landseer's students, was donated to the University in recognition of the pioneering teaching work carried out by the Aberdeen Society of Chemists and Druggists, which pre-dated the RPS.
Needlework Development Scheme
As featured in the excellent BBC4 documentary: The Town that Thread Built.
Over 100 Needlework objects are held in our collection the Needlework Development Scheme was a collaboration between art & design and also education & industry. The scheme encouraged needlework and therefore also the sale of thread manufactured by J&P Coats of Paisley. The company would become an international concern and in turn they supported the concept of a collection of historical and modern embroideries collected from around the world, with examples being purchased by, or donated to, the Scheme.
In turn, the collection was exhibited and loaned to schools in order to help teach and promote embroidery as an art form and was featured in the Festival of Britain in 1951. In 1961, J&P Coats Ltd withdrew funding for the Scheme and the collection of over 3,500 textile items was disseminated between various universities, colleges and museums around the UK.
Purchase Awards
Each year the Robert Gordon University awards a series of purchase awards to successful students who study a range of courses offered by both Gray’s School of Art and the Scott Sutherland School of Architecture and the Built Environment.
Works retained by the University are collected for future display and the resulting body of work provides an excellent visual record of the creative output of the university and the North East.
The Art and Heritage Collections were given Full Museum Accreditation by Museums Libraries and Archives Council in February 2009.
Policies
- RGU Art and Heritage Collections Access Policy (PDF 36KB)
- RGU Art and Heritage Collections Acquisitions and Disposal Policy (PDF 61KB)
- RGU Art and Heritage Collections Documentation Policy and Plan (PDF 37KB)
- RGU Art and Heritage Collections Documentation Procedural Manual (PDF 60KB)
- RGU Art and Heritage Collections Management Plan 2013-18 (PDF 48KB)
- RGU Art and Heritage Collections Sustainability Policy (PDF 40KB)
- RGU Art and Heritage Strategic Plan 2014-2016 (PDF 31KB)
Contact
Collections Coordinator
+44 (0) 1224 263439
collections@rgu.ac.uk
Affiliations
Copyright Statement for The Art and Heritage Collections Service
The contents of this site, including all images and text, are protected by copyright. No copies of the digital images or text may be made except for personal use. Personal use means non-commercial, domestic use by an individual making of single copies of each digital image. All forms of commercial use are forbidden. Electronic or print copies may not be offered, whether for sale or otherwise, to any third party. Copyright is held by the Robert Gordon University, or by the artist or by other copyright holders. The Art and Heritage Collections service, Robert Gordon University has made all reasonable efforts to ensure that the reproduction of content on these pages is done with the full consent of copyright holders. If you feel that your copyright has not been fully respected, please email collections@rgu.ac.uk.