Stirling Smith Art Gallery and Museum
The Smith Institute first opened to the public on 11 August 1874. It was an occasion for great celebration in Stirling, and the shops in the town closed at 12 noon to allow people to attend the opening. Nevertheless, there were some mixed feelings, for Thomas Stuart Smith, had died in 1869 and the location of the building was felt by many people to be too far away from the old town.
Stirling Smith Art Gallery and Museum
At the opening ceremony, Provost Christie refuted criticism of the location by pointing out that ‘five or ten minutes walk would bring any one to the Institute from the most distant part of the Burgh’ and that the site was chosen on environmental grounds ‘free from the noise and bustle and free from the dirt, dust and smoke, so that the students of art, science and literature could pursue their studies there unmolested and free from annoyance’. It was perhaps thanks to Provost Christie that the organisation came into being at all, for Thomas Stuart Smith’s first thoughts were to leave his money to the Artists’ Benevolent Association.