Welcome to the Wardlaw Museum
The museums team can’t wait to open the doors to your reimagined Wardlaw Museum.
The University Museum was founded through a unique partnership between the University and town, and today the museums are still a social and cultural hub connecting St Andrews communities with each other, celebrating the distinctive and diverse town that is our home.
Later this month we will open the Wardlaw Museum to the public, following nearly three years in which it was extended and completely redisplayed. Before this general opening, we invite University staff and students to an exclusive preview. Between 14-25 June, staff and students can book to visit and see the new displays, including three temporary exhibitions:
The Death of Marat & the Birth of the Lobster which explores Philip Colbert’s world, his creativity, and his philosophy. This exhibition features a new work inspired by Jacques-Louis David’s masterpiece showing the last moments of Jean-Paul Marat, a French Revolutionary and St Andrews graduate who was murdered in his bath in 1793.
Julia Margaret Cameron: Vision and Verse displays the recently acquired Idylls of the King and Other Poems written by Alfred, Lord Tennyson and illustrated by the pioneering photographer Julia Margaret Cameron. Exploring the relationship between word and image, this exhibition highlights Cameron’s dedication to her photographic craft, and her interpretations of Tennyson’s writings.
Sex as Subversion, Fantasy and Power: The Beggar’s Benison Club. The Beggar’s Benison was a male club focused on sex, politics, and smuggling. It was based in Anstruther in Fife from 1732-1836. The exhibition will display the Beggar’s Benison Collection, held by the University of St Andrews, for the first time and explore its importance to social, sexual, and gender histories.
Connection is at the heart of the Wardlaw Museum – with stories, objects, our team and your own group; it is a place that the local community and University community can come together. Join us.
- Dates: 14-25 June.
- All staff and students are welcome and can bring family or members of their household group.
- Slots are staggered every 15 minutes, but each group will have up to 45 minutes to view the galleries, take in the view from the terrace and browse the fantastic new museum shop.