Curator Dawn Henderby

It was a pleasure to spend time with Dawn Henderby on one of the warmest days we had in May. The Diane Arbus exhibition had recently opened, and it was a joy to stroll around it with Dawn in the cool gallery while the heat rose outside. And as a bi-product of the interview, I was thrilled to have the chance to enjoy a personal curator’s guided tour of the Arbus exhibition, all while getting to know Dawn. Walking around the gallery with her, looking at the photography, talking about art and creativity - it was inspiring. Dumfries and Galloway is so fortunate to have such a knowledgeable, passionate, and dedicated long-standing curator, working with the whole team to care for our art collection as well as bring the finest examples of internationally significant art works to be exhibited in Gracefield Arts Centre.

Dawn Henderby is the Arts Officer for Dumfries and Galloway Council, Gracefield Arts Centre, in Dumfries. I asked her to tell me about her role.

“The fascinating thing about the role here has always been the mixture of exhibitions, local, national, and international, and working with Artist Rooms, (the contemporary art Collection held by the Tate and National Galleries of Scotland) has been a highlight for me as it ticks all those boxes. We (Gracefield Arts Centre) became an associate by application back in 2011 and our first show was Lithuanian-born, New York artist Vija Celmins. This was followed up in 2014 with Dan Flavin, another New York sculptor, it arrived in crates from the USA and when the show was packed up here, it was on display at Tate St Ives, before returning to Tate Modern.

The show that we are probably most proud of was the Sir Don McCullin in 2017, it was a stunning display of his photojournalism set along with exquisite landscape views of the Somerset Levels near his home. The work linked directly to the school curriculum through the studies of war poet Carol Ann Duffy so as a result, we had over 500 pupils see and engage with the photographs which had some pretty hard-hitting themes. Local-born young photographer Sam Finch worked with Higher photography students on a project ‘Self-expression’ which resulted in a book and series of prints which we accessioned into our collection. This summer’s Artist Rooms Diane Arbus was also a unique opportunity to see internationally significant work with this trail-blazing photographer

Our ‘home grown’ art collections are also a highlight, particularly the strong focus on Scottish painter Joan Eardley – Gracefield has over forty of her artworks in the collection, (with some on long term loan from the Walker family), and these have been shown here at Gracefield many times, the last time was 2021 to mark the centenary of the artist’s birth as part of a national programme of exhibitions hosted by many different venues, from the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, Glasgow Museums to Perth Art Gallery. Our Eardleys are currently on loan until October to Kirkcudbright Galleries organised in association with our arts and museums colleagues in the west, and it’s great to see them on show locally again, with the addition of two stunning landscape paintings from the Royal Scottish Academy’s collection.

I was very proud to be instrumental in setting up and running the Archie Sutter Watt Trust Fund Archie (b.1915-d.2005) was a Galloway painter and teacher and following his wishes, after he died his nephews and friends set the Trust up to create a charitable fund that would support art, particularly for young people in the region. Over the years we’ve had selling exhibitions from his vast archive of work that raised over £50k to give in grant funding for school etching presses, teacher training projects and young artist bursaries through the UPLAND Emerge programme. We made a lovely full colour hardback book about Archie’s life and work, with an essay by distinguished author Christopher Andreae, and accessioned over 40 artworks into the Council’s permanent art collection, which have been shown at Gracefield and in Kirkcudbright Galleries.”

It is wonderful to learn that as well as caretaking the region’s collection, Dawn and the team are also helping to add to the collection. By being part of these projects, they have had the opportunity to be part of some incredible collaborations with artists and organisations from outside Dumfries and Galloway.

“Over the years I’ve worked with many different artists and artist organisations, local and national. The local ones are where you really build up a sense of community, such as with the volunteers that run Dumfries & Galloway Fine Art Society, Southwest Scotland Printmakers, the Textiles Triennial groups, Dumfries Camera Club and Access Art. Gracefield has been a part of Spring Fling since its inception back in 2002 with the annual taster exhibitions and special shows like last year’s 20-year celebration and it’s been great to watch it develop into a community interest company and be delivered by the UPLAND team, (whose offices are still based here at Gracefield), with the support of all their membership.

I’ve curated many solo shows too and stand out ones recently have been Thornhill artist Freda Blackwood and Silvy Weatherall from Irongray, near Dumfries which were a joy to work on and hugely popular with our audience. There are so many talented people working in the region but often their work is shown elsewhere, and we don’t get a sense of just how well regarded it is until it’s gathered up in one place, so we have a Sandy Robb retrospective and there will be a Minette Bell Macdonald solo on show in August/September this year.”

Gracefield Arts Centre is in many ways, an unsung hero amongst Dumfries and Galloway’s many outstanding galleries. Tell us more about Gracefield within the Scottish Art Exhibition landscape.

“Gracefield is part of the Scottish Touring Exhibition Consortium (STEC), with Highland, East Ayrshire, Scottish Borders Councils, and Fife Contemporary, and so far, we’ve worked together to stage eight major touring shows of contemporary art and craft that we shared in our own venues and hired-out nationally: a highlight of that programme was Glasgow artist Toby Paterson’s solo show as part of Generation Commonwealth Games Art programme in 2014. We also have a long-standing relationship with 20/21 Gallery in Lincolnshire, and they love bringing their touring programme here, shows such as the Lego Brick by Brick, and earlier this year, Jason Wilsher-Mills, and my personal favourite from them was Sparkle and Spin, Dundee artist Paola McClure’s fantastic fairytale sculptures.

We also collaborate with the Royal Scottish Academy on exhibitions. Showcasing the work of such an esteemed historic arts organisation here in Dumfries is an honour and a wonderful opportunity for our audience. It’s great to see Academicians’ work on show without having to travel too far. We’ve hosted ‘Ages of Wonder’ which was focused on printmaking and included two Rembrandt etchings alongside key Scottish artists, and we’ll be part of a national tour of the work of Sir William Gillies, RSA again in 2025.”

Dawn is a wonderful example of experience, talent, passion, and knowledge. You may have never met her, but if you have enjoyed any exhibition at Gracefield Arts Centre, you will have sampled the fruits of her labour. Gracefield is an unusual facility in that it is a gallery, a community space, and a shared resource for arts organisations and artists from all around the region and beyond. It’s a space where you can see internationally renowned art, free of charge, try a workshop, make friends, have a coffee, and enjoy art.

Make time in your schedule to visit Gracefield, and as you enjoy each exhibition, remember the Gracefield team behind the scenes, bringing beautiful things to Dumfries for us all to see. I mentioned to Dawn, just as we parted, that we are so lucky to have her at Gracefield.

Dawn shook her head, smiled, and said,

“Exhibitions are always brought together by lots of contributors, from the artists, curators, gallery technicians and front of house teams, but it’s the visitors and service users that make the whole thing worthwhile. Whatever you think you know about art, there will be something that engages you and hopefully stays with you – be that a photograph that makes you think about the horror of war or a joyful landscape painting you’d like to have on your wall at home – there will be something for everyone, and the aim of our D&G Council team here is to make that possible.”

Dawn Henderby, Gracefield Arts Centre, and the Gracefield team - treasures in the heart of Dumfries, and we would all be poorer without them.

To find out more about the exhibitions, workshops and events in Gracefield Arts Centre go to Dgculture.co.uk