Launch event Weds 11th March, 4-7pm
Glasgow City Heritage Trust is hosting Glas–Glas, a new exhibition by artist Alexandra Smart exploring the stories and symbols embedded in Glasgow’s historic environment.
Inspired by research into Saint Mungo, Saint Tenue and the imagery of the Glasgow Crest, the exhibition reimagines elements of the city’s past through sculpture, ceramics and natural materials.
Through these works, visitors are encouraged to look more closely at the everyday details of Glasgow’s buildings and streets — and to discover the history hidden within them.
Reimagining Glasgow Green’s Historic Drying Green
At the centre of the exhibition are a series of carved wooden drying poles inspired by Glasgow Green’s historic Drying Green.
Before modern washing machines, large areas of Glasgow Green were used by residents to dry their laundry. Long rows of poles supported washing lines across the grass — a familiar part of daily life in the city for generations.
For Glas–Glas, Alexandra has recreated these forms using storm-fallen trees, carving them in the style of historic drying poles and coating them in living moss. The sculptures bring together Glasgow’s natural and built environments while reflecting on how historic forms can be reused and reinterpreted today.
Symbols of the Glasgow Crest
The exhibition also explores the symbols found in Glasgow’s famous crest — imagery that appears throughout the city’s architecture.
Ceramic artefacts inspired by the miracles of Saint Mungo reinterpret these symbols through contemporary craft. Handmade ceramic cobblestones reference those that sometimes appear through cracks in Glasgow’s pavements, reminding us how fragments of the city’s past remain visible in everyday places.
The use of ceramics also reflects Glasgow’s industrial ceramic heritage, connecting the city’s manufacturing history with contemporary artistic practice.
About the Artist
Alexandra Smart is a recent graduate of the Glasgow School of Art, where she studied Sculpture and Environmental Art and graduated with First-Class Honours.
She is the winner of the Salt Space Graduate Artist Award, and Glas–Glas marks her first solo exhibition in Glasgow.
Since graduating, Alexandra has begun developing workshops with Highlands-based arts charity Room 13 and continues to explore themes of folklore, place and everyday material culture in her work.
She is also one of nine graduate artists selected from across the UK to appear in the upcoming BBC series The Art Game, airing later this year.
Visit the Exhibition
🎟 Free entry
Exhibition Opening Hours: 10am – 4pm
Every Wednesday to Friday, 4th – 25th March 2026
📍 Glasgow City Heritage Trust, 54 Bell Street, G1 1LQ
Funded by Glasgow City Heritage Trust and SaltSpace