The Argyll Collection Reconnected

History

Owned by Argyll and Bute Council, the Argyll Collection is a unique group of over 170 artworks, established between 1960 and 1990, for the benefit of the young people of Argyll and Bute. Author Naomi Mitchison and art advisor and teacher Jim Tyre created the collection to enable young people to experience fine art in an area with little access to museums and galleries. Jim drove the collection around the county, taking the artworks into schools for engaging and inspiring lessons.

Naomi and Jim filled the collection with outstanding modern Scottish artists, including Joan Eardley, Alan Davie, Anne Redpath, Will McLean, Robert MacBryde, Elizabeth Blackadder, Robin Philipson, and Barbara Rae. Naomi’s travels to eastern and southern Africa are also reflected in an outstanding group of twelve artworks by artists from Africa, including works by Jak Katarikawe, Henry Tayali, Catherine Gombe and Sam J Ntiro.

Since 2022 CHARTS have managed the collection, delivering workshops around Argyll Schools, reviewing the collection, redisplaying the collection, creating traineeship opportunities and working with national and international universities. 

Public Engagement 

Reconnected Project Manager Ros McKenna and Research Manager Kirsty MacNab travelled the length and breadth of Argyll, carrying out an inventory of the collection. The work was spread across 9 secondary schools, including Oban, Tobermory, Lochgilphead, Tarbert, Campbeltown, Helensburgh, Dunoon, Rothesay, and Islay, as well as 5 primary schools and 2 libraries. In establishing the location of the pieces in the collection, the Reconnected team carried out condition checks in order to initiate a conservation programme and, importantly, to meet and build working relationships with school staff. 

Between January and April 2024, CHARTS was delighted to work alongside Exhibition Trainee Lily Vaughan, who curated Awwaken, The Argyll Collection, an exhibition of pieces from the Collection that ran in Dunoon Burgh Hall and was covered by journalist Jan Patience. 

Find out more about the collection through CHARTS online talk (2025) from research manager Kirsty MacNab, which explores The Argyll Collection's and Jim Tyre's archives and Dr Kate Cowcher's talk for National Gallieres Scotland Naomi Mitchison, African modernism, and art for the people in rural Scotland (2025).

Digitisation

In partnership with Art UK (2024), the Reconnected team began uploading the complete Argyll Collection, supported by digital stories and curations to share the works with a national audience. From August, Ros and Kirsty delivered a Visual Literacy project with six Kintyre primary schools, using the Collection to explore Art UK’s The Superpower of Looking, while also collaborating with Argyll and Bute Council’s Education team on teacher training events.

The team also worked to digitise the Collection for global access, following their selection for a unique collaboration between XpoNorth Digital and Smartify, the world’s most downloaded museum app.

Working Nationally and Internationally 

CHARTS worked in partnership with Dr Kate Cowcher (University of St Andrews), Dr Lucy Steeds (University of Edinburgh), and Prof. Christina Young (University of Glasgow), whose research helped uncover new insights and connections within the Argyll Collection. In January 2024, CHARTS’ International Manager, Dr Deirdre MacKenna, visited Uganda with Dr Cowcher to establish links between the Argyll Collection, CHARTS, and key cultural institutions in Kampala, including Makerere University and The British Council.

Reconnected: The Argyll Collection, a CHARTS-led project funded by Art Fund reviewed the cultural, social, and educational value of the Collection. It was featured in GEM Case Studies #32: Reviewing a Museum Without Walls, The Argyll Collection, Reconnected.

The Argyll Collection Reconnected was funded by the Art Fund and supported by Argyll and Bute Council, National Lottery Heritage Fund, The Gannochy Trust, Bòrd na Gàidhlig and the William Syson Foundation.