Jewish Telegraph
16 May 2025
A Newton Mearns Care Home residents and their families have their own art gallery
to enjoy at the Home.
The renowned artist Hannah Frank moved to the home with her husband Lionel Levy
in 2002. She was a resident there until her death in 2008 at the age of 100. A large collection
of her work was stored at the Home.
A permanent gallery of her work has been created and had its official opening,
organised by her niece Fiona Frank, last week.
Newark Care board member and volunteer Rochelle Pinder said: “After Covid, we
refurbished the home and I noticed all this lovely art.
“Our caretaker Roddie enlightened me about it and I got very excited. I knew that
something special had to be done with it and contacted Fiona.
“We came up with the concept of the Hannah Frank Gallery.
“Whatever was put together, had to have a lot of intimacy and warmth, as this is a
Home. The curators carried out their work so discreetly and they did very well in
reflecting the needs of our residents and staff and the ethos of the home.”
Fiona said she was really pleased to bring together four of the students she had
been working with in recent years for the project. They had seen it through while she
had been travelling round the Americas for the past year. She thanked the Netherlee
and Clarkston Charitable Trust, the Alma and Leslie Wolfson Charitable Trust, the
Scottish Jewish Archives Centre and the Scottish Council of Jewish Communities
(now the Jewish Council of Scotland) for their support.
Fiona reported that Hannah’s work was really popular in Brazil and the Hannah
Frank Exhibition was on its sixth tour round the country.
The gallery was curated by Iona Wallace, Finley White, Margaret Gray and Mieke
Cable-Henrichs, who had taken the Glasgow University History of Art Course. Iona,
who was joined by Finley at the opening, said: “The layout of the prints is in
chronological order.
Hannah switched to working exclusively in sculptures in the 1950s and continued to
do so for the rest of her life. We wanted to try and tell a story in as little space as
possible and we were lucky to have such a large collection to work with.”
“We were able to include work by artists influenced by Hannah and the alcoves are
filled with the sculptures, books and trinkets which belonged to her.”
Clare Willsdon, professor of the History of Western Art at Glasgow University, spoke
of arranging a number of student placements in recent years, including with Fiona.
She described the exhibition as exciting and very special.
Scottish Jewish Archives Centre curator Deborah Haase, office manager Fiona
Brodie and volunteer Howard Brodie were present at the opening. They reported that
they were delighted to hold the Hannah Frank and Lionel Levy collection, consisting
of 30 full boxes, at the centre.
They contained a diverse and fascinating collection of material that was accessed
regularly.
Also present, were artist Alma Wolfson for the Alma and Leslie Wolfson Charitable
Trust; JCoS co-chairman Nicola Livingston, who had worked with Fiona for many
years whilst she was employed by the Scottish Council of Jewish Communities;
Fiona Dean, representing artist Myra Ostacchini, who was influenced by Hannah’s
work; Colin and Valerie Miller — friends of Hannah’s nephew Jonathan Frank;
Netherlee and Clarkston Charitable Trust representative Jane Tobias; and
Westacres manager Stuart McKay.
