The Bewick Collection is open to the public
Entry: Free
Location: Walton IT Building, WIT
Times: Building opening times
The Bewick Collection is a true testament to the artist's outstanding life and talent
Since November 2006, South East Technological University has played permanent host to Pauline Bewick’s Waterford Collection; paintings, sculptures, tapestries, sketches and wall hangings from her renowned Seven Ages Collection. A remarkably prolific artist, Ms. Bewick’s work can be found in galleries and collections throughout the world. The SETU Waterford community is proud that this generous gift to the State is showcased in a higher education institution, particularly when one considers how well the artist has embodied the concept of lifelong learning.
The eclectic exhibition of almost 300 pieces of art was unveiled on the 14th November 2006 by President of Ireland, Mary McAleese. Ms. Bewick donated the collection to the State with the proviso that it be permanently exhibited in Waterford where she has chosen WIT’s Walton ICT Building as the ideal setting. The work, which spans 7 decades of Ms Bewick’s life from childhood, is shown across three floors around the Walton Building’s central atrium. The ground floor houses work from the latest period while the first floor features work from the artist’s middle years and the 2nd floor showcases art from her early years, indeed from the tender age of two.
At the opening, President McAleese said she was delighted to open the permanent exhibition by an artist who has been painting since 1937 when she was just two years old and added, “The wealth of tapestries, wall hangings, watercolours and sketches, and the sheer variety of media and subjects take us on Pauline’s life journeys - the journeys through physical landscapes as varied as Kerry and the South Pacific, and the interior journeys where emotion and thought, passion and reflection are translated into such intriguing images."
The Waterford Collection at SETU Waterford is open to the general public during normal opening hours and the artist is particularly keen that students, academics, locals and tourists alike enjoy her expression of her life’s journey thus far.
Ms. Bewick also donated two further parts of the Seven Ages Collection, one of which is displayed in Killorglin, Co. Kerry while the other is on regular tour in Ireland and overseas.
Ms. Bewick is long established as one of Ireland's leading contemporary artists. Based in County Kerry, she enjoys international acclaim for her unique style and vibrant work which has been described as Picasso-like. Her daughters Poppy and Holly are also talented artists.