Next up in the ongoing Seven Up reviews  is Glasgow's Gallery of Modern Art . Located in the centre of Glasgow, just off Buchanan Street and is probably most famous for having a statue of The Duke of Wellington outside it with a traffic cone on his head. Glaswegians eh?   As mentioned in the original piece , GoMA was quite a tricky one to review, being as it is quite small (relatively speaking) and walking around it is used to be a wee bit like wandering around a brightly lit rabbit warren as designed by Stanley Kubrick.     But it the intervening years the lighting in the gallery seems to have been softened and the use of space seems to have been altered so the whole place is now seemingly much bigger and much more warm and welcoming. Plus - as like last time -  the staff are always incredibly friendly and helpful with plenty of time to chat about the venues Autism provision which includes a variety of workshops and the availability of sensory backpack...

A triple bill of Autistic outings today as we revisit St Mungo Museum of Religious Life and art and also to an Autie-eye view of the Provand's Lordship and Glasgow Cathedral to see how the venues are fairing seven years on from Glasgow's Autism initiative . A quick note that these reviews will be fairly brief as (spoiler warning!) Glasgow Museums have actually been really consistent when it comes to Autism friendly venues since the original Autism initiative began all those years back in 2018 . So, are you sitting comfortably? Then I'll begin, with the St Mungo Museum of Religious Life and Art. As mentioned previously, named after Glasgow's patron saint and based in Glasgow's Cathedral Precinct, the museum is built on the site of the medieval Bishops’ Castle with galleries of objects and art exploring the importance of religion in peoples’ lives across the world and throughout history. Like Cassidy and his love for The Riverside Museum , St Mungo's is a favo...

First up in my re-review/catch up on Glasgow's Autistic friendly venues is one of our favourites and a place we visit frequently - the fantastic  Riverside Museum   (AKA the Transport Museum).   As mentioned previously , the Riverside has over 3,000 objects on display - there's everything from skateboards to steam trains, paintings to prams and cars to a Star Wars Stormtrooper and often hosts a myriad of (free) transport themed events within the museum grounds including hands on vintage vehicle days and even interactive Star Wars events ( reviewed here ).  And to be fair I've said before that there's not much you can do to realistically  'Autism-up' something like an art gallery or museum but the Riverside (and its staff) have always seemed to be totally onboard when it comes to the needs of Autistic visitors - the layout of the museum has a nice, consistent feel and the map (handed out as you enter) is clear and uncluttered, there's a dedicated q...

      With the laydees away today at a dance performance in Stirling (ably aided by Ro) Cassidy and I were left to entertain ourselves today.  And what a top day we've had. As regular readers (and folk who know us) will be aware, Cassidy absolutely loves The Riverside Museum in Glasgow ( especially the Sinclair C5 ) and today we realised there was a special "Festival of Fire" event being held by the Scottish Fire Brigade Heritage Trust showcasing both past and present Firefighting appliances and the rich history of the fire service in Scotland. And let's be honest, what proper Autist doesn't love a fire engine?  Alongside the fire engines (and fantastic assortment of vehicles on display) there has been of late a rather nice mini Star Wars exhibition on too, featuring a variety of droids, vehicles and characters that both Cassidy and the girls had visited previously which was finishing today so I thought brilliant we can go see that again too! Day sorted....

  Seeing as it's the annual Alasdair Gray 'Gray Day' I thought I'd repost my contribution.   His portrait Frances Gordon, Glasgow Teenager inspired my collaboration with Glasgow Open Museum and guests of Glasgow City Mission in creating 'portraits' focusing on their interests rather than in a traditional style.    You can find out more here plus you can read about the project from an autistic perspective here . Enjoy. Portrait of Frances Gordon. (c) Alasdair Gray, courtesy of Glasgow Museums collections.