Inside Europe's Largest Free Women's Art Collection in Cambridge — SkimNews
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- Murray Edwards College houses Europe's largest publicly accessible collection of modern and contemporary art by women, with over 600 works by more than 300 artists, free to visit and open to the public all year.
- The collection traces back to Mary Kelly's "Extase" (1986), which was acquired and displayed in the dining hall; college president Valerie Pearl and curator Ann Jones then wrote to artists including Maggi Hambling, Paula Rego, Bridget Riley, and Eileen Cooper, receiving more than 70 donated artworks within two years.
- A new exhibition called "What Remains" marks four decades since "Extase" was acquired, pairing Kelly's archival materials (including her residency application) with works by contemporary artists including Ellen Lesperance and Sadé Mica.
- In 2024 the collection partnered with Spirit Now London to acquire three works by young female artists from China, South Africa, and the US, and at this year's Frieze London it is working with Female Artists of the Mougins Museum to buy a piece by a female artist not yet in a UK public collection.
- Unlike the university-funded Fitzwilliam Museum and Kettle's Yard, the Women's Art Collection is run by the college and has to raise money itself, lacks environmental conditions for museum loans, and depends on donations — with a stated long-term ambition to build a new gallery at the entrance pending backing.
Why it matters: The collection holds 600+ pieces by 300+ artists and is free to the public, but unlike the Fitzwilliam or Kettle's Yard it receives no university funding — limiting environmental controls and museum loans. A planned new entrance gallery hinges on finding backers before this 600-work trove can fully open up.
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