6 days ago
- General
- The Herald Scotland
Bequest helps museum continue legacy in centenary year
The bequest will also be used to enhance and promote the Galleries and collections in years to come.
While Ms Hubbard was born in Morningside, Edinburgh, in 1926, she grew up in Wemyssfield, [[Kirkcaldy]]. She went to Seaview Private School in the town and it was here that her passion for learning was nurtured.
She developed a love for the arts and would spend a lot of time in the town's museum and art gallery with her parents.
As it happens, the Galleries came into being as the result of another donation. When plans were being prepared for a war memorial to commemorate the soldiers who had died in World War One, local industrialist John Nairn donated further funding for it to be extended to include the creation of a gallery in memory of his only son, Ian, who died in France shortly before the armistice.
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By coincidence, Ms Hubbard's father, Harry Hubbard, who was an architect in Kirkcaldy, was involved in drawing up the plans for the town's World War Two memorial.
After leaving school, most of her working life was as a librarian at what was then [[Kirkcaldy]] Technical College, later to become Fife College.
She never married and was known for giving many donations to worthy local causes. When she died in 2015, she left most of her estate 'for the benefit of Kirkcaldy Galleries.'
Chris McLean, OnFife's Museum and Heritage Service Team Leader, explained: 'It took some time to settle Jean's estate, and it was not until 2023 that we began discussing how it should be used.
'We were very mindful of her wish that it be used for the benefit of Kirkcaldy and the Galleries, and with the Galleries' 100th anniversary coming up, along with the commemoration of the war memorial, which had also been given to the town and which her father had been closely involved in, it all tied in together and we started thinking about how to put this idea into action.
Some of the money was used to purchase a piece of pottery, called the Referendum Teapot, by Scottish artist Susan McGill (Image: Supplied) 'With the centenary celebrations we wanted to be able to concentrate specifically on a special exhibition and other events around that, and we decided to create a temporary Project Curator post for a year to help do that.
'It was taken up on a job-share basis by two of our current team members, Jane Freel and Janice Crane, who have worked extremely hard with our Collections Development Manager, Nicola Wilson, and our Kirkcaldy Galleries' team to pull together all the activities around the KG100 events and exhibition.'
Sadly, there are no paintings or photographs of Jean Hubbard but she is acknowledged in the A Century of Kirkcaldy Galleries exhibition that her bequest made possible.
Some of the money was used to purchase a piece of pottery, called the Referendum Teapot, by Scottish artist Susan McGill. It was made to mark the Scottish independence referendum and reflects the thoughts and feelings of people at the time.
The bequest has also been used to work with local groups such as the Beehive Nursery, with visits to the Galleries producing a wealth of animal-themed artwork for display in the art space, and with the Sewing Circle, which put together a banner illustrating 100 years of the Galleries in Kirkcaldy.
With funding from Museums and Galleries Scotland, OnFife has also worked with The Hive, where young people from the LGBT+ community created a Pride banner which is on display in the centenary exhibition.
And staff from OnFife worked alongside the Royal British Legion Scotland's Kirkcaldy branch to link the commemoration of 100 years of the War Memorial with the Galleries' centenary celebrations, including bringing Bud, Poppy Scotland's interactive touring exhibition to a Big Birthday Bash celebration in June, and culminating in a visit by King Charles and Queen Camilla in July
'We are very grateful to Jean Hubbard for her generosity which has enabled us to do a huge amount to celebrate the centenary and put the Galleries in the spotlight with displays and exhibitions,' said Chris McLean. 'From its very beginnings, the support of benefactors has enabled Kirkcaldy Galleries to become one of the best gallery spaces in Scotland and Jean Hubbard has continued that tradition, all to the benefit of the people of Kirkcaldy.'
For more details of the centenary celebrations visit the KG100 page at
