“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 by men. Ergo: I have seen a lot of bad art by men. I think it’s time some women got a chance.” Following The Countess Report 2019 publication, the Guardian’s Jane Howard writes about the gender imbalance across the art sector and what needs to change.”
The Guardian: All I want to see is more bad art by women. Give someone else a chance to fail.
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 Countess Report into a regular, c
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 of only three women out of 40 artists invited
A new biography, Nora Heysen: A Portrait by Anne-Louise Willoughby, and the recent exhibition Hans and Nora Heysen: Two generations of Australian art at the National Gallery of
“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 the inspir
26 July - 6 October 2019
In May, three significant examples of colour field paintings by women artists – two of which were omitted from The Field – hung in the Lawrence Wilson Art Gallery to mark the l
‘THE POSITION OF ART IN THE WOMEN’S LIBERATION MOVEMENT IS THE POSITION OF WOMAN IN THE ART’S MOVEMENT’ (1) Embedded review by Madeline Sarich Curator Sandra Murray present
“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 art doesn’t slot neatly into the art historical narrat
“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 by men. Ergo: I have seen a lot of bad art by men. I thin
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 was the opening exhi
My mother Sheila Cruthers had a soft spot for young women artists and rarely missed an exhibition showcasing a new artist. If she responded to the artist and her work, a purchase
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 BrennanSelf portr
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 Tawale has been
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
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, the
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 Directors’ Course and was keen to get involved
In this section we profile West Australian artist Carol Rudyard who recently passed away. One of her important works, Untitled 1970, is held by the Cruthers Collecti
What is the Cruthers Collection of Women’s Art? Whilst known to art curators, academics and art professionals since the later 1980s, the Cruthers Collection was first presented i
“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 a major impact on the lives of wo
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 tranch
Gemma Weston has been Curator of the Cruthers Collection of Women’s Art at the University of Western Australia since April 2013, and also maintains a independent practice, curati
Into the Light: Recovering Australia’s lost women artists 1870-1960 is Sheila’s national research project to collect data about women artists in Australia. One such artist was
“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 arti
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 2007. This brochure was produced to ac
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, curators, researchers to join us in b
“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, after a new report found sta
Now is life very solid, or very shifting?– Virginia Woolf, Diary III.[1] Days of Their Lives Exhibition Review by Aimee Dodds. Days of Their Lives presents a sample of contempo
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 little known Australian women artists work
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
“Donors … agree that if we raise sufficient funds to carry out our programs, we can improve genderbalance in the visual art sector” – John Cruthers. Business News Madeline
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 on soft sculpture made with recycled blanke
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 most influential data set d
“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 ga
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 org
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 women artists.” The POST Sarah McNeil writes how She
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
“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 Foun
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
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 professionall
History Afresh, Zahalka Style ZAHALKAWORLD – an artist’s archive Museum of Australian Photography, Melbourne, 10 June – 10 September 2023 By Andonis Piperoglou. Anne ZAHALKA,
Erica McGilchrist was an artist as well as a dancer, designer, curator, teacher, activist, feminist and humanist. She was born in Mount Gambier, South Australia to Stevenson George
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 her forthcoming solo exhibition
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 Sydney Morning Hera
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 – curators, art historians, r
As part of the broad mission of promoting women’s art, the focus of the Foundation’s blog entries will sometimes shift away from material directly based on the Cruthers Collect
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, mandolins and guitars by luthier
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 D
A cautionary tale of selective memory and the West Australian women painters, Elizabeth Ford and Dorothy Newland, in focus. Written by Lynda Newland. West Australian women who pain
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
New Woman gathers 111 works by more than 80 artists to celebrate Brisbane women artists from the past 100 years. It joins a suite of shows dedicated to re/covering and re/telling
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 Contemporary A
With the Cruthers Art Foundation transitioning from a private to a public entity, it is timely to continue the discussion around private collections entering the public realm start
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 Gladys Laycock. From 1908, Gladys ma
Aline Cusack, born in 1867 in New Zealand and brought up in Newcastle and Sydney, was a prominent professional Sydney-based artist who worked from the 1890s to the 1930s. Her siste
“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 the art schools, they won the patrons, they were feted
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 The Countess Report 201
“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 t
Sheila Cruthers was drawn to self-portraits painted by women artists, and much of her early collecting included purchasing or commissioning a self-portrait of the artist, which wou
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 collecting. It was developed by
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
“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 has been reclaimed and reappr
Eliza Burton reviews two exhibitions by women running concurrently at the Art Gallery of Ballarat, the first an ambitious survey of Australian modernism from the Gallery’s own co
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
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 ways no-one has
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, in the hope of b
Danielle Freakley is a Seychellois-Australian artist, a first selection finalist of the Arte Laguna Prize (Venice Arsenale), exhibited at Tate (Liverpool Biennial), Performa –
“Try naming five male artists, contemporary and historic … easy? And now five women. For most people this is much more difficult.” ABC Arts’ Eloise Fuss writes about the ge
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
Louise Mayhew reviews a new book by Melinda Rackham and Elvis Richardson that tells the story of CoUNTess, how it morphed into The Countess Report and how it continues to challenge
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 changed for all of us in this time.
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’
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 Women’s Art at UWA. One
By Juliette Peers You are reading the first posting for the Cruthers Art Foundation blog. In the months and years ahead, we hope to inform, entertain, educate, shock, irritate, del
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
FROM PERTH TO PARIS: Recovering one of the true innovators of early twentieth century Australian artBOOK REVIEW: Kathleen O’Connor of Paris, by Amanda Curtin, Fremantle Press, F
Celebrating the known, honouring the intangible Clarice Beckett: The Present MomentArt Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide, 27 February – 16 May 2021 By Juliette Peers Altho
By Juliette Peers Art historian Juliette Peers reviews two books on women artists, the recently published Odd Roads to be Walking: 156 Women who Shaped Australian Art and Throug
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 and mus
