Founded in 1874 with a legacy from Thomas Stuart Smith, Painter and collector. The Smith gallery and museum in Stirling houses a wide range of paintings,artworks, historical and archaeological material and a changing programme of exhibitions.
Programmes for adults and children include art exhibitions, events, workshops and school education service.
Open All year Tues-Sat 10.30-5 and Sundays 2-5. Admission is free.
Disabled access and facilities
Cafe serves lunches, snacks, teas and coffees with home baking and is open
daily to 4.30pm
The friends of the Smith offer guided tours every Wednesday afternoon to
groups and individuals and at other times by arrangement. For further information please telephone 01786 471917
The Smith art gallery and museum Stirling
Albert Place
Dumbarton Road
Stirling
Tel 01786 471917
The Stirling Smith is proud to create and host a wide variety of different exhibitions every year, showcasing many different disciplines including fine art, social history, cultural history and other subjects of local and national interest.
In recent years we have presented exhibitions focusing on subjects ranging from the history of golf to the Titanic. Others have dealt with the lives of illustrious figures of Scottish history such as George Buchanan and Sir William Wallace, and celebrated the work of artists from all over the world.
There are always new and exciting things to see in our galleries.
The main exhibition in Gallery 3 of the Stirling Smith art gallery and museum is The Stirling Story, telling the story of Stirling from pre-history to the 20th century.
Using artefacts from the Stirling Smith collections, topics include the Romans, Wallace and Bruce, Renaissance Stirling, Jacobite Rising, trades and industry, agriculture and the two World Wars.
This important display features for the first time in the Smith's history, an interpretation of the history of Stirling, told using artefacts from the Smith collections. It has been funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund and sponsorship from Scottish Amicable.
Allow at least 1 hour for browsing as the exhibition is full of detail. A variety of quizzes and games are provided for children.
When you visit the Smith, make sure that you take time to see Ailie's Garden at the back of the museum. Not far from the city centre, the garden provides a peaceful spot to have a picnic or spend some time.
The Garden is named after Ailie R Maclaurin (1913-2000) of the
Stirling Homesteads, where biodiversity and sustainability were
practised in the early twentieth century.
Ailie was a great gardener
and lifelong Friend of the Smith.
Ailie's Garden has been created to encourage wildlife, for the study of
nature, the demonstration of composting and waste management, and to add
to the pleasure of visiting the Smith. It has been planned as an
outdoor gallery, biodiversity garden, and family activity space.
The garden has been designed to attract wild birds, hedgehogs and insects. Guests can visit the kitchen garden where potatoes, raspberries and rhubarb is being grown.
Among the attractions of the two acre site are a willow tunnel, a
storytelling circle / performance area where the audience sit on dinosaur teeth seats , an outdoor chess and draughts
board, a giant caterpillar sculpture, a mini labyrinth, and a woodland
area.
Seating created by sculptor Kevin Blackwell is comfortable as
well as plentiful, and the area is enlivened with the mosaics of Jan Kilpatrick, aided by children from several local primary schools.
Ailie's Garden provides an enjoyable opportunity for families, schools and all visitors to the Museum to appreciate and learn more about their local natural heritage. The hope is that it will be well used by the people of Stirling and visitors to the area. Funding for the project came from the Fresh Futures programme of the New Opportunities Fund, Scottish Natural Heritage, Stirling Council, Stirling Landfill Tax Trust, Stirling Council Community Environment Scheme, and the Friends of the Smith.
