• Entry type: Person
  • Entry ID: IMP0137

Burke, Frances Mary

(1907 – 1994)
  • Born 1 January, 1907, Melbourne Victoria Australia
  • Died 14 October, 1994
  • Occupation Artist, Businesswoman, Designer

Summary

Frances Mary Burke was appointed as a Member of the British Empire on the 1 January 1970 for her contribution to art and design. In 1937 she established with fellow graduate Morris Holloway Australia’s first registered textile printery – Burway Prints. The Frances Burke Textile Resource Centre at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology was named in her honour. The centre now forms part of the RMIT Design Archives.

Events

  • 1987 - 1987

    Director of Arts Honoris Causa at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT)

  • 1980 - 1983

    Chairman of the Course Advisory Committee in Textile Design at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT)

  • 1977 - 1981

    Member of council at University College Melbourne

  • 1968 - 1968

    Foundation council member of the National Printery Council

  • 1968 - 1971

    President of the Arts and Crafts Society

  • 1940 - 1940

    Exhibiting member of the Arts and Crafts Society

  • 1958 - 1966

    Council member at the Museum of Modern Art and Design Australia

  • 1958 - 1958

    Foundation member of the Industrial Design Institute of Australia (now Design Institute of Australia)

  • 1947 - 1947

    Foundation member of the Society of Industrial Designers

  • 1942 - 1942

    Commissioned to design fabrics for first Australian Embassy Washington, USA

  • 1938 - 1938

    Foundation member of the Contemporary Arts Society

  • 1937 - 1937

    Founded Burway Prints, the first registered textile screen printery in Australia (Frances Burke Fabrics Pty Ltd)

Published resources

  • Edited Book
    • Who's Who in Australia, 1988, Cadman, Kerith A, 1988
    • Heritage : the national women's art book, 500 works by 500 Australian women artists from colonial times to 1955, Kerr, Joan, 1995
  • Thesis
    • A study of the work of Dr Francis Mary Burke, MBE, textile designer, with particular reference to the development of printed textile design in Australia., Oswald-Jacobs, Robyn, 1997
  • Book
    • Francis Burke fabrics / Department of Fashion & Textile Design, RMIT, Oswald-Jacobs, Robyn, [1996]
    • From the night / [poems by Maie Casey ; drawings by Frances Burke], Casey, Maie, [1976]
    • Exclusive hand prints, Burke, Frances Mary, 1996
    • Women as designers in Australia, De Nijs, Jenny, 1986
  • Catalogue
    • Frances Burke fabrics, 1937-1965 ; Gerry Wedd and Mambo, Green, Erica, 1999
  • Newspaper Article
    • Designer who did it her way, 1996
    • The fabric of a society [review], 1997
  • Resource Section
  • Resource
  • Site Exhibition

Archival resources

  • National Gallery of Australia, Research Library Archive
    • Papers of Frances Burke c1940s-c1960s / Frances Mary, Burke

Related entries


  • Membership
    • Lyceum Club (Melbourne) (1912 - )
  • Related Places
    • Frances Burke Centre