Heads Up: Glasgow School of Art 2024 events guide

Open Studio Summer Courses

The Glasgow School of Art, throughout Jun, Jul and Aug
The Glasgow School of Art's Open Studio returns this summer with short courses in a wide range of disciplines for adults and young people. Courses for young creatives which run in week-long blocks in June, July and August are perfect as an activity for young people interested in developing their creative skills during the summer holidays, and are bookable now.

Open Studio Summer Exhibition

Fleming House, 134 Renfrew Street, Glasgow, 31 May-9 Jun
Running as part of the annual Degree Show, this platforms work made by young people in Scotland, showcasing original work from our Widening Participation pupils, the Community Engagement creative residency at Garnetbank Primary School and Castlehead ‘school for creativity’.

Portfolio Preparation – Creative Practices Course

Aug 2024-Feb 2025
Are you thinking of applying to art school? The GSA’s Portfolio Preparation Course gives you the time and space to develop your portfolio in a collaborative, dynamic studio environment. The course is structured to help you choose a specialist area of art and design to study, and has a track record of getting students places at top art schools across the UK.

Image: McAteer Photo

Race, Rights & Sovereignty

Events run throughout the year
The Students’ Association and GSA exhibition curate this public event series, exploring the relationship between race, place and creative practice. Events in the last year have included public lectures, events and performances with Mindy Seu & Shu Lea Cheang, Alain Kassanda, Jemma Desai & Nehad Khader as well as workshops with Rosalie Yu, Martha Adonai Williams and Hussein Mitha. Race, Rights and Sovereignty is currently programmed by artist, curator and researcher Beulah Ezeugo.

Postgraduate Degree Show 2024

30 Aug-8 Sep
Hot on the heals of the summer Degree Show, the Graduate Degree Show showcases the work of students on Postgraduate programmes across the school. From fashion collections to innovative service design, medical visualisation to painting and sculpture, this is your chance to explore the rich work of our students on many of our Postgraduate programes. 

CL!CK X GSASA PRESENT – EVOLUTION ⭐ GSASA Degree Show After Party

GSA Students’ Association, Glasgow, 30 May, 10pm-2am
IT’S A CELEBRATION ALRIGHT SWEETIE? Join GSASA as they celebrate the mother tucking Degree Show. The theme is giving Pokémon… EVOLUTION if you will. Come as your favourite Pokémon or just as someone who has travelled through the realms of the Crimson Mirelands. For the evening they have a three-floor takeover in the Assembly Hall and The Vic, hosting a roster of DJs and performers, headlined by DJ, event producer and curator HALFQUEEN.

GSA OPEN

Glasgow and online throughout the year
Whether you’re just starting to consider coming to art school, or you’re almost ready to hit ‘send’ on your application, GSA OPEN offers events to support you at whatever stage you are at of your application journey. Find out more on the GSA website.

GSA Open House

25 & 26 Oct
At Open House, our studios and workshops are opened up for prospective students interested in studying at The Glasgow School of Art at Undergraduate or Postgraduate level, to explore and find out more about life and study here. You’ll get a chance to meet our staff and students, explore the campus, and get to know more about the programmes you are interested in studying through events and activities.

Sandra George

Part of Glasgow International; 5 Florence Street, Glasgow, 7-23 Jun
This exhibition will explore the work of community worker and photographer, Sandra George (1957-2013), who took thousands of images of community projects across Scotland between the 1980s and the late 2000s. Social justice and equity was at the heart of both George’s community and her artistic work, which was not exhibited during her lifetime. This solo exhibition, developed in collaboration with Craigmillar Now, presents George’s photography and a selection from her wider artistic multidisciplinary practice.

An Evening for Sandra George

Part of Glasgow International; 5 Florence Street, Glasgow, 13 Jun, 6pm
Delve into Sandra George's profound impact on Scotland’s artistic landscape through a panel discussion led by esteemed hosts Christian Noelle Charles, Zoe Lorimer, and Titilayo Farukuoye. Gain insights into Sandra’s work and participatory practice, exploring the intersections of art and community engagement. Engage in a reflective dialogue on the experiences of living as Black women in Scotland and the pivotal role of community in navigating challenges and fostering resilience. 

The First Annual Maud Sulter Lecture with Jackie Kay

Part of Glasgow International; Reid Lecture Theatre, The Glasgow School of Art, 20 Jun, 3pm
Delivered by Scottish poet, playwright and novelist Jackie Kay, this event aims to amplify the legacy of artist Maud Sulter, her roots in Scotland, and the internationalism of her practice as an artist, photographer, writer, poet, curator, and organiser. From the mid-1980s until she died in 2008, Maud strove to place Black women at the centre of an art history that had excluded them. She also challenged Western art, denouncing the erasure faced by the African diaspora. 

Eddie Stewart and Stephanie Smith

Reid Gallery, The Glasgow School of Art, 21 Sep-19 Oct
The new academic year starts at The Glasgow School of Art with an exhibition from artists and long-time collaborators Stephanie Smith and Eddie Stewart, aka SMITH/STEWART. Their practice explores collaboration, trust, relationships and communication. Using film, video and sound, they make events and performances as well as objects and installations, with a primary emphasis on the body and the implication of the viewer.

‘Ah, Sugar’, Marlene Smith. Collaboration with Cubitt, and Cubitt Fellow Seán Elder

Reid Gallery, The Glasgow School of Art, 2 Nov-14 Dec
An exhibition of work by artist and curator Marlene Smith, curated by Seán Elder (MLitt Curatorial Practice). This solo exhibition will include new sculptural and drawing work, emerging from the artist's ongoing interest in the material and bodily qualities of sculptural practice and inquiries into the cyclical nature of social histories and familial entanglements

Good Housekeeping III (1985-2023), Marlene Smith. Image courtesy of Tate 2023, photo by Jai Monaghan.

Bet Low Centenary, in partnership with Pier Art Centre, Orkney

Reid Gallery, The Glasgow School of Art, 11 Jan-8 Feb 2025
This exhibition will reflect on Bet Low’s working life, from early studies of Glasgow to the late Orkney landscapes and go some way in reassessing this important artist's contribution to Scottish art and culture.

GSA Highlands & Islands Summer Show

GSA Altyre Campus, Moray, 15 Jun, 10am-4pm
An exhibition showcasing our work and generating future opportunities for collaboration across the region in learning, research and knowledge exchange.