School of Health & Wellbeing

The Open Museum is an ongoing project which takes kits containing objects from Glasgow Museums collections out into the community, as a catalyst for storytelling and creative activities. Art Outside of the Box is the first such handling kit to contain fine artworks and includes original art from the Art Extraordinary collection.

Art Extraordinary is a unique collection of Scottish outsider art collected by pioneering artist and art therapist Joyce Laing (1939-2022) and contains artwork produced by individuals with lived experience of mental ill-health and/or incarceration. Throughout Joyce’s career, she collected over a thousand works of art from hospital or prison spaces, as well as gifts from the people that she mentored or befriended. She believed in the transformative power of art as a tool for expression, communication, and well-being. Art Outside of the Box was co-created by experts with experience of mental ill-health and/or incarceration and contains artworks from outsider artists across Scotland, spanning the last century. 

Our ethos for collaboration is embedded within working with communities and individuals to explore Art Extraordinary. We are passionate about using the collection to understand more about the lived experiences of mental (ill)health and incarceration, and the power of creativity to create spaces for care, understanding, and social justice.

Art Outside of the Box is an opportunity to explore, discuss and be inspired by the artworks. A programme of drop-in Artmaking workshops run by collaborators involved in creating the kit will accompany the exhibition:

Friday (7^th) and Saturday (8^th) – join Glasgow Museums to explore the stories behind the collection.

Monday (10^th afternoon), Wednesday (12^th morning), Friday (14^th afternoon) – join Leverndale Recreational Therapy to create art inspired by the collection.

Tuesday (11^th) – join Project Ability to explore art inspired by the collection.

Thursday (13^th) – join artist Cath Keay and Project Ability to create art inspired by the collection.

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First published: 18 April 2024