Moira Beaty

MOIRA BEATY was born Jessie Moira Munro in 1922 in Prestwick, Ayrshire.  She studied at Glasgow School of Art under Hugh Adam Crawford, alongside fellow students, Joan Eardley and Margot Sandeman. In late 1941 Moira was invited to apply to the Foreign Office and from 1942 – 45 she began her war service at Bletchley Park as a cryptographer working directly on the breaking of Enigma codes.

During this period, she continued to create artwork and worked with a group of artists within the organisation, undertaking drawing classes and exhibitions. In 1947 Moira resumed her Diploma Course in Drawing and Painting at Glasgow School of Art. Large numbers of ex-service students at the Art School helped create a more than normally mature working environment. After gaining her diploma Moira undertook a Teacher Training Course at Jordanhill College, and following the six-month course was appointed to Holyrood Secondary School. She later moved with her husband Stuart Beaty to the Scottish Borders and taught sporadically as a supply teacher at Hawick High School. There she found a special relationship with remedial, non-certificate girls who provided subjects for much future painting. 

In 1990 the couple moved to Barnbarroch, Dumfries & Galloway, and from 1997 Gracefield Arts Centre became an important focus. In 2001 Gracefield held a major retrospective exhibition entitled ‘Full Circle’ of both Moira and Stuart Beaty’s work which toured to the Hawick Museum and Art Gallery. A full colour catalogue is available from Gracefield.

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