"THERE is no such thing as a woman artist. There are only two kinds of artists: Bad and good." Scottish artist Dame Ethel Walker, 1938

Some people argue that all-women exhibitions are no longer needed. Yet the exhibition, 'Scottish Women Artists – 250 years of Challenging Perceptions' at the F.E. McWilliams Gallery, Banbridge, tells the story of Scottish art through works that just happen to have Dbeen created by women.

Either way you look at it, there's an interesting selection of over 40 artists' work on display. This is the second collaboration between the gallery and Fleming collection and this one starts in the eighteenth century and comes up to the present day.

It's important to note that not all of the artists were born in Scotland – Phoebe Anna Traquair was born in Dublin, for instance, and Margaret Mellis in China. But they all have strong parts of their practice connected to Scotland. Influences developed generationally and some artists were mentors of younger, more well-known artists. Damien Hurst was mentored by Margaret Mellis, for instance, and celebrated Mabel Pryde, the artist mother of the much more well-known Ben Nicholson.   

Self-taught artists hang alongside the professionally trained, all making their own way with their artistic expression. There are many firsts. It was not until 1940 that the Royal Scottish Academy elected the first woman member and it took until 2018 to have its first woman president. There is some discussion of the constraints society imposed on women and the sometimes limiting subject matter they were expected to focus on. For a time some artists focused on painting women and children and as a result their work was perceived to be of little interest outside of individual families. 

The reality for the women of each era is explained on the exhibition panels. "The deep-rooted legal, political and financial constraints of patriarchal society, in which men held the power and women were largely excluded, meant that those fortunate few that did manage to achieve success were often quickly forgotten by an academic art historical discipline traditionally dominated by and focused on men."

It is because of this historical context that I believe it's still important to have women-only exhibition opportunities.

Scottish Women Artists – 250 Years of Challenging Perceptions is open at the F.E. McWilliams Gallery, Banbridge, until September 2, open Monday to Saturday 10am to 5pm. There are signs just off the motorway and a really good cafe on site, which makes it well worth the trek.

East Belfast galleries have announced that on September 12 they will have their own Late Night Art Evening where people can sample what the area has in terms of visual art. It's great that this is running on from the well-established late-night art in Belfast on the first Thursday of the month.

• There's limited time to catch the two Caravaggios at the Ulster Museum – they're there until September 1.