You may have heard the fantastic news that the Glasgow Women's Library has been shortlisted for the Art Fund's Museum of the Year Prize. The winner is announced on Thursday 5 July, and will receive £100,000 to continue their good work.
This week, social media has been ablaze with support for the organisation and their bid to win this award.
"Everything crossed for the gloriously feminist, welcoming, creative, smart and lovely @womenslibrary to be #MuseumoftheYear," says Twitter user @EmmaRitch.
"Proud to fly the @womenslibrary flag this week! Glasgow Women's Library: life saver and life changer #mymuseum #museumoftheyear" says @Emilyrllett.
And @Bestmellemel said: "The magic of @womenslibrary is palpable from the moment you walk through the door. The women running this place deserve every accolade going because they're really making a difference to culture; they're women making AND changing history. #museumoftheyear ".
These three examples are representative of a huge campaign to Fly the Flag for GWL, which encourages individuals and organisations to share why they think GWL should win Museum of the Year.
With the winners announced tomorrow (Thursday 5 July), we're sharing just some of the reasons that Creative Scotland is proud to support GWL - one of our Regularly Funded Organisations.
Empowering women is one of the key aims of the Glasgow Women’s Library. They support thousands of women across Scotland every year to improve their lives through their services and programmes, including support and activities that tackle a wide range of issues from poverty and women’s health, sexuality and surviving violence.
GWL delivers over 200 innovative events and activities across Scotland every year, from film screenings to guided walks and core programmes. Key learning strands include their Adult Literacy and Numeracy and Black and Minority Ethnic Women’s Projects.
GWL is the only Accredited Museum in the UK dedicated to women’s lives, histories and achievements and is a Recognised Collection of National Significance. They proudly showcase a range of historical and contemporary artifacts and archive materials, with everything from Suffragette memorabilia to rare 1970s Scottish Women’s Liberation newsletters on display.
The organisation recently undertook a report, Equality in Progress, which explored equality and social justice in cultural organisations. With funding from the Scottish Government and the European Social Fund, the GWL will research and develop three innovative strands:
GWL has a wide programme of exciting events. Their Muriel Spark: GSA Illustration Exhibition, for example, runs until 30th July. This showcases the work of Glasgow School of Art Illustration students, who have been mining the GWL collection to create new letterpress and collograph prints inspired by Muriel Spark's dark, humorous and lushly evocative works. There are also creative writing workshops, reading groups, heritage walks and more.
