I had the pleasure of attending the GDST Heads’ Conference in Cambridge last week. The conference was hosted by Murray Edwards College – a forward-thinking college which prides itself on being different and breaking boundaries; where there are notices in the grounds that very deliberately read “please walk on the grass”; and where the architecture is designed to inspire women to “look up and aim high”. As described on their website, Murray Edwards College was “founded in the middle of last century by women who set no limits on their potential,” so it was the perfect setting for a gathering of GDST heads, echoing the GDST’s own mission to provide “learning without limits”.
Murray Edwards College is also home to the largest collection of women’s artwork in Europe. A highlight of the conference was a guided tour of the collection, and particularly memorable for me was an 1982 piece called ‘Models Triptych: Madonna Cascade’ by Rose Garrard, a sculpture of a picture frame that leaps off the wall and cascades to the floor. “Garrard is very interested in frames, frames that break and frames that fall off the wall,” says Harriet Loffler, Curator of The Women’s Art Collection at the College. “I feel that she talks about the frames, the boundaries, that women have to break through, both politically and socially, to take up space in the world.”
This idea of taking up space in the world followed me back to Brighton. I returned to school on Friday to find that the Hive had been transformed for our GCSE Art & Design Exhibition – the large wooden structures standing amongst our usual cafe-style seating providing another reminder of the power of art to both inspire and disrupt. Despite the logistic challenges involved, this was a great way to allow our artists to claim a physical presence in the school. For one week, the heart of the school was transformed into a gallery of modern art and design: there were skateboards with laser-cut designs; futuristic ankle supports and shin pads inspired by biomimicry and designed specifically for women; 3D printing; sculptures; mixed-media pieces; shadow boxes… the variety was endless and the quality was outstanding.
On Thursday, we celebrated a pioneering alumna who had claimed her space in the world, specifically in the world of women’s health. I have written and spoken about Dr Louisa Martindale before; we celebrate her often as a woman who reimagined what was possible.
We joined the Friends of Brighton & Hove Hospitals for a special event to acknowledge the hospital wing that bears her name. Students spoke to assembled hospital staff about the connection between Louisa Martindale and our school, about how proud we are to count Louisa as one of our own. Our newly appointed Head Student, Grace, Deputy Head Student, Jen and former Deputy Head Girl, Kiara spoke about Louisa’s ground-breaking work, looking to the past but also to the future as they reflected on how women like Louisa Martindale opened doors for generations to come.
We left a banner bearing Louisa’s image and the name of our school in the large reception space in the Louisa Matindale Wing, a physical prompt to passers by; a symbol of the space Louisa claimed in the past and the spaces our students will claim in future thanks to her legacy.
