50 Years of IWD
Happy International Women’s Day! Today, on the 50th anniversary of International Women’s Day, Sheila celebrates the important and vital contribution Australia’s women artists make to
Sheila Foundation
8 March 2025
Author: Sheila Foundation
John Cruthers appointed as Emeritus Director
John Cruthers appointed as Emeritus Director of the Sheila Foundation Board Former Sheila Foundation Chair and longstanding board member John Cruthers has been appointed Emeritus
Sheila Foundation
7 March 2025
Colleague Spotlight: Rodney James
Rodney James is a curator, art consultant and writer specialising in 19th and 20th century art writing and research, collection management, exhibitions, visual art projects
Sheila Foundation
15 October 2024
Artist Spotlight: Deborah Prior
Deborah Prior is an Adelaide-based artist who uses knitting, stitching and embroidery to transforms recycled textiles into art works, soft sculptures and installations that explore
Sheila Foundation
10 October 2024
Meet the Into the Light 2023 Researchers!
Sheila is proud to announce the launch of Into the Light 2023, the fifth annual tranche of this project to locate and acquire artworks by
Sheila Foundation
6 October 2024
Into The Light 2023 Call Out
Into The Light tranche 5, 2023 expressions of interest are now open! We are on the look out for early stage and under-employed art historians,
Sheila Foundation
10 July 2024
The Countess Report 2022
The Countess Report is a comprehensive report on gender representation in the Australian arts sector. It is compiled every four years and has become the
Sheila Foundation
6 June 2024
Artist Spotlight: Gladys Laycock (1882-1959)
Why is a women’s art foundation acquiring a portrait of a Scotsman in a kilt? Because it was painted by little known Sydney artist
Sheila Foundation
8 May 2024
Colleague Spotlight: Lainie Edwards
As part of our ambition to share our passion for the work of Australian women artists, Sheila would like to introduce current projects by colleagues
Sheila Foundation
17 April 2024
Sheila Fellowship Exhibition Opens in Darwin
Recipient of Sheila’s 2023 Michela and Adrian Fini Fellowship, Alana Hunt, recently opened her solo exhibition Surveilling a Crime Scene at the Northern Centre for
Sheila Foundation
5 December 2023
Artist Spotlight: Virginia Ward
Virginia Ward focuses upon her face in her multifaceted sculptural work as seen above. Repurposing off cuts of wood used in the making of ukuleles,
Sheila Foundation
5 December 2023
Artist Spotlight: Rhonda Sharpe
Born in 1977, Rhonda Sharpe is an Luritja artist who works for the art centre Yarrenyty Arltere in Alice Springs. The centre has a focus
Sheila Foundation
5 December 2023
Sheila Foundation Announces the 2023 Michela and Adrian Fini Artist Fellowship
Artist Alana Hunt has been awarded the Foundation’s third Fini Fellowship, an opportunity that will allow her to create a body of new work for
Sheila Foundation
26 June 2023
Angela Brennan Work Gifted to The Cruthers Collection of Women’s Art
In 2021 Angela Brennan’s painting Self portrait 1998 entered the Cruthers Collection of Women’s Art as a gift from the artist’s husband Will Barrett. Angela
Sheila Foundation
27 November 2022
Kelly Gellatly to Chair Sheila Fondation
Longstanding Sheila Foundation Chairperson John Cruthers this week announced the appointment of preeminent arts industry leader Kelly Gellatly as his replacement as head of the
Sheila Foundation
23 November 2022
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
Sheila Foundation
19 May 2022
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
Sheila Foundation
21 April 2022
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
Sheila Foundation
13 March 2022
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),
Sheila Foundation
8 July 2021
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
Sheila Foundation
14 April 2021
Into the Light: Donor Circle Acquisitions 2019
Into the Light: Recovering Australia’s lost women artists 1870–1960 is Sheila Foundation’s national research project to collect data about women artists working professionally in Australia
Sheila Foundation
16 October 2020
Sheila Foundation announces inaugural Michela and Adrian Fini Artist Fellowship
Sheila – A Foundation for Women in Visual Art has announced the inaugural Michela and Adrian Fini Artist Fellowship valued at $20,000. Sydney-based artist Salote
Sheila Foundation
14 October 2020
Sheila Impact Report 2019-2020
It is a year since Sheila Foundation was officially launched by Elizabeth Ann Macgregor OBE. What a wonderful night it was, and how things have
Sheila Foundation
25 June 2020
Artist Spotlight: Elvis Richardson
The Countess Report was founded by Elvis Richardson as a blog in 2008. In collaboration with Amy Prcevich and Miranda Samuels, Elvis has grown The
Sheila Foundation
1 June 2020
Artist Spotlight: Sera Waters
Sheila’s Champions Donor Circle provides funds for the purchase of new works by younger and mid-career artists to be added to the Cruthers Collection of
Sheila Foundation
25 May 2020
Meet the Board: Catherine McMahon
Why did you join the Sheila Board? I joined the Sheila Foundation Board in April 2018. I was a recent graduate of the AICD Company
Sheila Foundation
11 April 2020
Untold Stories: Janet Dawson, Over the Rainbow
Janet Dawson (b. 1935) trained as a printmaker and worked in the lithography workshop at Gallery A in Sydney in the 1960s. She was one
Sheila Foundation
2 March 2020
Artist Spotlight: Danielle Freakley
Danielle Freakley is a Seychellois-Australian artist, a first selection finalist of the Arte Laguna Prize (Venice Arsenale), exhibited at Tate (Liverpool Biennial), Performa – Performance Art Biennial
Sheila Foundation
29 November 2019
In the Press: RTR FM 92.1
Curator and Board member Helen Carroll spoke to RTRFM 92.1 Jorja Key about the Sheila Foundation and the visual arts gender parity statistics highlighted in
Sheila Foundation
17 November 2019
In the press: The Saturday Paper
“If we value women’s art less than we do men’s, then we need to rethink what it is that we value in art. If women’s
Sheila Foundation
2 November 2019
In the Press: ABC Arts
“Try naming five male artists, contemporary and historic … easy? And now five women. For most people this is much more difficult.” ABC Arts’ Eloise
Sheila Foundation
1 November 2019
In the Press: The Guardian
“I’ve seen a lot of art. Two things are inherent in this statement: I’ve seen a lot of bad art, and a lot of art
Sheila Foundation
1 November 2019
The Countess Report 2019
For years, three dedicated Australian artists, with the support of Sheila Foundation, have been quietly working to change the face of Australian contemporary art in
Sheila Foundation
30 October 2019
In the Press: Sydney Morning Herald
“The National Gallery of Australia has become the first major art institution in the country to commit to full gender parity in its artistic program,
Sheila Foundation
30 October 2019
In the Press: National Association for Visual Arts
“The latest Countess Report, Australia’s premier reference point on gender representation in the contemporary visual arts, has been released today…A total of over 13,000 artists
Sheila Foundation
30 October 2019
In The Press: Editorial The Sydney Morning Herald
“In the history of art, or more pointedly the history of the industry of art, those who rose to the top were men. They ran
Sheila Foundation
30 October 2019
In the Press: ArtsHub
“The latest report (30 October 2019) found that there has been ‘significant gender equity gains across public galleries, artist-run initiatives, major museums and university galleries,
Sheila Foundation
2 October 2019
Artist Spotlight: Rima Zabaneh
Artist Rima Zabaneh writes the inspiration behind her work Street Directory. “In late 1990, I emigrated to Perth from Jordan with my partner and three children,
Sheila Foundation
23 August 2019
In the Press: Vault
“The Australian slang term ‘sheila’, a derogatory term for a woman, is a relic of another, more sexist time. But, like other contested words, it
Sheila Foundation
8 August 2019
Sheila Foundation
26 July 2019
In the Press: Fabric Quarterly
In May, three significant examples of colour field paintings by women artists – two of which were omitted from The Field – hung in the
Sheila Foundation
11 June 2019
3 important works unveiled at Sheila launch
To celebrate its launch, the Sheila Foundation has secured three important colour field paintings made by Australian women artists in the late 1960s. The Field
Sheila Foundation
11 June 2019
In the Press: POST Newspaper
It was a unique and beautiful thing for a mother and son to share, and it was the beginning of Sheila’s love and support of
Sheila Foundation
7 June 2019
In the press: Business News
“Donors … agree that if we raise sufficient funds to carry out our programs, we can improve genderbalance in the visual art sector” – John
Sheila Foundation
3 June 2019
Sheila Foundation
2 June 2019
In the press: The Guardian
“The Australian Cruthers family are among a global movement of galleries and philanthropists putting the spotlight back on women”. Clarissa Sebag-Montefiore from The Guardian talks
Sheila Foundation
28 May 2019
In the press: ArtsHub
“Busting gender disparity in the visual arts wide open, Sheila is a new foundation aimed at building collections, and awareness.” ArtsHub writes about the need for
Sheila Foundation
28 May 2019
In the press: Sheila has launched
Sheila Foundation Limited launched on May 28 at Lawrence Wilson Art Gallery at The University of Western Australia. Feature articles in The West Australian, the
Sheila Foundation
28 May 2019
In the press: The West Australian
“A new foundation to be launched next week will honour the art-loving legacy of Lady Sheila Cruthers.” The West Australian writes about Lady Sheila Cruthers and
Sheila Foundation
25 May 2019
In the press: Sydney Morning Herald
“Sheila Cruthers never finished school, but by the time she died in 2011, aged 86, the former shop girl from regional Western Australia had made
Sheila Foundation
24 May 2019
Sheila Foundation
2 April 2019
Vanguardist or vampire? Rethinking Cynthia Reed Nolan’s contribution to Australian Culture
Cynthia Nolan: A BiographyM. E. McGuireMelbourne Books, October 2016Hardcover $34.95Available from http://www.melbournebooks.com.au/ The last few years have witnessed a new tranche of revisionist scholarship around women
Sheila Foundation
19 June 2018
Into the Light – The Cruthers Collection of Women’s Art
The Cruthers Collection of Women’s Art is one of Australia’s most fascinating specialist art collections. Assembled since 1974 by collector and patron Lady Sheila Cruthers,
Sheila Foundation
1 December 2012
LOOK. LOOK AGAIN 2012 exhibition brochure
Held in 2012, LOOK. LOOK AGAIN was the first major exhibition of the Collection after it was gifted to The University of Western Australia in
Sheila Foundation
1 February 2012
In the Company of Women: 100 years of Australian women’s art from the Cruthers Collection
In the Company of Women was the first public exhibition of the Cruthers Collection of Women’s Art and represented the Collection after 21 years of
Sheila Foundation
1 February 1995