EARLIER THIS year (ArtWork 167), we asked the question of whether the Collins Gallery in Glasgow, part of Strathclyde University, would be closed in the way that the University of St Andrews closed the Crawford Gallery some years ago.

Our fears have now been realised: in March the Collins will hold its final exhibition, devoted to paper works and items from his home by George Wyllie - part of the festival bearing his name that culminates in a big exhibition of his work in the Mitchell Library, Glasgow next November.

The Collins has, in fact, been given almost a year's extension to its demise to allow Laura Hamilton, its curator, to organise two more exhibitions: Fire & Fibre, that pairs Scottish basketmakers with Scottish potters, and opens on November 19; and an exhibition of pattern cuttings by Jeanette Sendler that incorporates a workshop and a conference on Scottish textiles, in February.

These will bring the number of exhibitions curated by Ms Hamilton to almost 300 since her appointment in 1988.

Part of the legacy of the Collins is that Strathclyde now holds Wyllie's archives, which will be available to anyone seriously studying his work.

The university also holds the Helen Cargill-Thompson Collection, consisting of paintings and small sculptures donated over many years for the purpose of enabling artworks to be installed in the university offices. At the moment, no-one seems responsible for curating the collection.

The university will also have the Collins's own paper archives containing correspondence (going back to letters from Joseph Beuys) to press releases, newspaper cuttings, invitation cards, etc., that record the life of the gallery since it opened in 1973.