Event to focus on the past, present and future of Gray's School of Art
Friday 27 February 2026
This event marks the culmination of the exhibition Never Make a Head Bigger than a Melon, presented at Aberdeen Art Gallery as part of Gray’s School of Art’s 140 Years programme. Bringing together artists, educators, researchers and emergent artists and makers (students and alumni) from across the UK and beyond, it examines what makes an art school distinct — and why that distinctiveness, rooted in studio culture and artist-led education, matters now more than ever.
The forum foregrounds the art school as a particular kind of environment: a place shaped by shared studio life, experimentation, dialogue and embodied, practice-based ways of knowing. It considers how such environments shape creative identity, sustain artist-led approaches to learning, and continue to evolve in response to contemporary cultural and educational pressures.
Dr Judith Winter, Co-Curator of Gray’s 140 Anniversary Exhibition - Never Make a Head Bigger than a Melon, said: “For Gray’s 140 Years, Anatomy of an Art School was conceived not as a closing statement, but as a gathering of those who hold an abiding belief in art school futures. Rooted in a shared artistic ecology, the aim was to reignite dialogue and forge new relationships — strengthening the interconnected networks of practice, pedagogy, and place that sustain creative communities.”
“By ‘anatomy,’ we mean the living body of the art school: its structures, memories, and practices, from its ‘skin and bones’ architecture to the shared life of the studio, brought together to unfold new ideas and open possibilities that connect past, present, and future.”
Dr. John Walter, academic, and artist is one of the contributors, said: “My contribution to ‘Gray’s 140’ reflects on art school culture - past, present and future - through the lens of my transdisciplinary practice, an expanded form of painting that builds worlds, collaborates across disciplines and challenges taxonomies. Learning by doing, through practice-based material research, underpins both my art and my approach to art education.
“I’m interested in the rise of the art fair, alternative art school models, neo-academicism, research culture and fabrication culture, asking how these forces inform how artistic practice is acquired from both bottom-up and top-down perspectives. I’m also attentive to how architecture conditions the proceedings of art school.”
Councillor Martin Greig, Aberdeen City Council’s culture spokesperson, said: "The Art Gallery is at the heart of our city's cultural life so it is a pleasure for us to host the Gray's exhibition as well as the closing event. The gallery is a natural place for artists, researchers and students to gather and discuss the importance of art and design in our everyday existence. Gray's is celebrated as a powerhouse of amazing designers and artists and it is an excellent time to consider the most effective ways to nurture and encourage future creative talent."
Rather than presenting formal academic papers, contributors are invited to offer prompts or provocations that open discussion. These act as points of departure rather than fixed topics, leaving space for individual questions, experiences and lines of inquiry. The forum includes contextual framing by Dr Judith Winter, Prompt and Provocation sessions from invited national and international speakers, structured audience responses, parallel panel discussions, student-led exhibition tours, performative interventions and sessions distilling collective propositions.
Across the UK and internationally, art schools are navigating financial pressure, structural reform and shifting educational priorities. The forum responds to this moment by positioning Gray’s School of Art and Robert Gordon University within a broader conversation about the future of art education — one that recognises the value of studio-based learning, creative risk-taking and artist-led forms of knowledge production.
The Forum asks what conditions allow creativity to grow, how studio-based learning can be sustained, and how art schools can remain distinctive while engaging with contemporary realities. The discussions will inform a forthcoming publication emerging from the exhibition and symposium, ensuring that the dialogue continues beyond April 2026.
Alongside Dundee, Edinburgh and Glasgow, Gray’s School of Art is one of the four original art schools in Scotland. It opened in 1885 in the building next to Aberdeen Art Gallery. The two were linked by a bridge and doorway, giving students direct access to the Gallery for sketching. Gray’s remained in the heart of the Granite City until 1966, when it relocated to a new modernist-inspired building at Garthdee, designed by Michael Shewan.
Main image: Sally Reaper and Dr Judith Winter, curators of Gray’s School of Art: 140 years - Never Make a Head Bigger than a Melon, Martin Greig, Aberdeen City Council and Professor Dan Allen, Dean of Gray’s School of Art