A LANDMARK nationwide touring programme has launched at Penlee House Gallery & Museum in Penzance. Making Her Mark: A Celebration of Women in Art explores the barriers women artists have faced over the last 150 years and celebrates the lasting impact of their work today.

The collaborative exhibition from Art Fund, the national charity for museums and galleries, brings together more than 60 works from the collections of Penlee House, Worcester City Art Gallery & Museum and Kirkcaldy Galleries. Exhibition highlights include works by Laura Knight, Barbara Hepworth, Wilhelmina Barns-Graham, Caroline Walker, Elizabeth Forbes, Tracey Emin and Paula Rego.

One of the most ambitious touring programmes of its kind, the £5.36m Going Places initiative brings together 20 museums from all four nations – including Edinburgh, Lisburn and Carmarthen - to share and celebrate the UK's collections in ways that are rooted in place and shaped by local people.

Going Places enables collections to travel across the country, reaching more people and taking on new relevance in different places. Works that have rarely – and in some cases never – left their home collections will be seen by new audiences across the country.

Making Her Mark is the first of a series of 12 major touring shows over the next five years, each developed in collaboration with local communities, opening up collections in new ways and enabling more people to see their own lives and stories reflected in museums. Local people are selecting works for display, contributing personal objects and stories, and working with artists to create new responses to collections.

At Penlee House Gallery & Museum, care-experienced young people, supported by local charity Carefree Cornwall, have responded to the artworks and themes of the exhibition. Their work will be displayed within the exhibition alongside some of the world’s best-known artists, brought together in a large-scale textile banner.

Through a series of artist-led workshops with Elizabeth Howell and Kate Turner, participants explored a range of artistic techniques in response to the exhibition and discussed issues around gender equality. As part of the programme, the group also travelled to partner museums across the UK – for some, leaving Cornwall for the first time – opening up new perspectives and cultural experiences.

“One of the joys of a longer-term project like this is the chance to watch young people’s confidence grow, in particular their creative confidence,” said Kate Turner. “They have produced amazing artwork, and it is a testament to their openness and sense of community that they decided to produce a collaborative final piece.”

Anna Renton, director of Penlee House Gallery & Museum said: “The collaboration between Penlee, Worcester and Fife has created an opportunity for all our audiences to see great artworks right on their doorstep. Bringing together historic and contemporary artworks, Making Her Mark traces how women have pushed – and often broken through – the boundaries that have long restricted their opportunities for visibility and success. We look forward to celebrating all the women artists featured.”

The Going Places programme, made possible with major support from The National Lottery Heritage Fund and The Julia Rausing Trust.

Making Her Mark runs until September 27.