The Australian Women's Register

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

• 1937

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

• 1938

  Foundation member of the Contemporary Arts Society

• 1940

  Exhibiting member of the Arts and Crafts Society

• 1942

  Commissioned to design fabrics for first Australian Embassy Washington, USA

• 1947

  Foundation member of the Society of Industrial Designers

• 1958 - 1966

  Council member at the Museum of Modern Art and Design Australia

• 1958

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

• 1968

  Foundation council member of the National Printery Council

• 1968 - 1971

  President of the Arts and Crafts Society

• 1977 - 1981

  Member of council at University College Melbourne

• 1980 - 1983

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

• 1987

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