On Wednesday 20th February Dr Cheryl McGeachan came to Project Ability to give a talk on Outsider Art to members of the Heritage Lottery group and interested artists. She spoke in great length about the history of art created by the mentally ill and the early collections, before explaining how her own work as a human geographer tied into the topic.
Cheryl has specifically spent a lot of time studying the life and work of Angus McPhee, a Shetlander who was in an asylum in Montrose. He was a prolific sculptor, mainly of stone heads, using materials found on hospital grounds. She also brought in some books for us to look at in order to see some collections of art.
A stone head by Angus McPhee is in the case the group curated over at Pollok Civil Realm.
-Morag Macgilchrist
