The Star Spangled Barrel
People sometimes question the ‘relevance’ of museum collections. Right now, the Stirling Smith’s collection is the inspiration for an international anti-gun campaign in the wake of the mass shooting in Las Vegas, 1 October. Black American artist and political activist Ray Noland, who helped Obama’s election campaign in 2008
The Pity of War
Anda Paterson RSW RGI GSWA (born 1935) is one of the best known and most prolific Scottish artists working today. Her work is represented in many public collections, including Aberdeen, Dundee, Inverness and Glasgow Art Galleries. She is known for her depictions of ordinary people going about their daily
Heroic Stirling Postman
The photograph of postman John Wardrop Thomson (1883-1962) and his Albert Medal are part of a recent collection of memorabilia gifted to the Stirling Smith by John and Brenda Calderbank of Stockport. The medal was presented by King Edward VII for an extraordinary act of heroism in Stirling Station on
The Valley Cemetery
This photograph, taken by Stirling photographer Alexander Crowe, shows the cemetery in its early years. The layout was completed in 1857 and the first burial took place then. The scheme was devised by Charles Rogers, promoter of the Wallace Monument and financed by seedsman William Drummond. ‘The Valley’ was a
Stirling by Horatio MacCulloch
This is one of three works by the eminent Scottish landscape painter Horatio MacCulloch (1805 – 1867) in the Smith collections. The view looks towards the old town of Stirling and the castle on the rock from the hills at Bannockburn. The bottom half of the composition is seen in
Scottish Seaweed
Today’s featured story can be seen at the Smith in The Colours of Nature exhibition by the Scottish Society of Botanical Artists. Although botanical art is centuries old, the SSBA is a young organisation and this is their second annual exhibition. Botanical art is very different from flower painting as
Lunchtime, 1984
A feature of the Painting Stirling exhibition at the Stirling Smith is the work of the eminent American – British artist, Mary Louise Coulouris (1939 – 2011). She trained at the Chelsea and Slade Schools of Art in London, and in the Ecole des Beaux – Arts and Atelier 17
Old Coffee House, Bow Street
In 1902, the architect J S Fleming published a book, The Ancient Castles and Mansions of the Stirling Nobility. It had hundreds of drawings, mainly of the buildings in the Top of the Town which have long since been demolished. Another artist, Alexander Douglas Junior, visited some of the buildings
Miners’ Demonstration
The demonstration in support of the striking miners in Stirling 33 years ago this month was significant both for Stirling and for Scotland. During the 1984 – 5 Miners’ Strike, most of the big support marches took place in the cities, and protests were held at collieries where there were
King Street in 1860
Here is a King Street that none of us have ever known. It is only a small section of the street, but it is tightly packed with businesses. On the left is Angus Ewing, Stabling, then Vance’s Boot and Shoe Warehouse, where a street level entry gives access to Alexander