Welcome to Sheila
Sheila Foundation is a national philanthropic foundation with a mission to overturn decades of gender bias by writing Australian women artists back into our art history and ensuring equality for today’s women artists.
About Sheila
A foundation for women in visual art.
Sheila's Projects
Sheila’s three core programs have been designed to create maximum impact.
Cruthers Collection
The inspiration for Sheila Foundation is Lady Sheila Cruthers. Lady Sheila was the driving force behind the largest stand-alone collection of Australian women’s art – the Cruthers Collection of Women’s Art.
Support Sheila
Your support will enable us to begin to overturn decades of gender bias by writing Australian women artists back into our art history and ensuring equality for today’s women artists.
News and Resources
The Absence of the Anthropocentric Ego
Found and Gathered: Rosalie Gascoigne and Lorraine Connelly-Northey The idea of anthropocentrism is at the forefront of the Australian art world, becoming something of the buzzword
Book Review: Celebrating women who defied the odds
Writer Nina Levy from See Saw Magazine has written a thoughtful review on ‘Odd Roads to be walking: 156 Women Who Shaped Australian Art’. Providing a well-rounded critique
Artist Spotlight: Gemma Ben-Ary
A recent acquisition by Perth-based artist Gemma Ben-Ary is included in the current exhibition From the Cruthers Collection of Women’s Art at the Lawrence Wilson Art Gallery, Per
Into the Light: Donor Circle Acquisitions: 2020
Into the Light: Recovering Australia’s lost women artists 1870- 1960 is Sheila’s national research project to collect data about women artists working professionally in Austral
Sheila Foundation announces second Michela and Adrian Fini Artist Fellowship
Sheila Foundation – A Foundation for Women in Visual Art has announced the awarding of the 2022 Michela and Adrian Fini Artist Fellowship. Brisbane-based artist Natalya Hughes ha
Affirmative Actions: The Activist Essay and the Cruthers Collection
By Julia Anderson, Sidonie Hall-Jordan, Sunday Jemmott, Michael Louttit, Samantha Wallis and Louise R Mayhew In 2019, students at the Queensland College of Art (QCA), Griffith Un
Kelly Gellatly joins Sheila Foundation board
Foundation chair John Cruthers is delighted to announce that highly regarded arts industry professional Kelly Gellatly has joined the board of directors. Kelly has over 25 years’
![“Gemma Ben-Ary’s unblinking glass eyes appear uncanny and disconcerting…[referencing] tropes relating to vision and power; of looking and being looked upon.”
Gemma Ben-Ary’s series ‘The Abyss’ has been recently required by the Cruthers Collection of Women’s Art and is included in the current exhibition ‘From the Cruthers Collection of Women’s Art’ at the Lawrence Wilson Art Gallery in Perth.
The work’s purchase was supported by funds raised by Sheila’s Champions Donor Circle, one of five works purchased in the Champion Circle’s first year of operation. Ben-Ary’s work refers to the ‘countless sentient eyes that witness environmental devastation and ecosystems on the brink of collapse’. A powerful and important sentiment to all.
Sheila thanks the generous members of the Champions Donor Circle. If you are interested in joining a Donor Circle or donating to Sheila please follow the link below or in our bio.
https://sheila.org.au/support/
The quotations above were taken from the catalogue of the exhibition ‘From the Cruthers Collection of Women’s Art’, currently showing at the Lawrence Wilson Art Gallery in Perth. Written by Lee Kinsella.
Image:
1) Gemma Ben-Ary ‘The Abyss (series II)’ 2021-2022, oyster shells, glass eyes, polymer clay, dimensions variable (13 pieces)
@lwagallery @gemmajbenary](https://sheila.org.au/wp-content/plugins/instagram-feed/img/placeholder.png)