It was a night of celebration for St Ives Museum at the Cornwall Heritage Awards on 19th
February when it was awarded the prize in the Exhibition of the Year (small museums)’ category
for ‘Discovering St, Ives’ which ran throughout the 2023 season. The citation for the museum’s
entry read “The museum felt passionately that the story of how St Ives emerged as a major
artists colony has not been fully told in the town, and so staged their first exhibition for many
years. In collaboration with art historian David Tovey, the exhibition showed works from 1830 to
1890 and described how St Ives changed from a little known fishing and mining town to an
important artistic community, telling the stories of many of the early artists and what motivated
them to visit the town. It was an outstanding success increasing footfall by over 30% and
attracting new audiences specifically attracted to the museum by the exhibition.”
Museum curator Andy Smith said “naturally we are thrilled and delighted to receive this award. It
recognises the quality of the work we were able to display and the story we were able to tell.
Our special thanks must go to David Tovey for sharing not only many of his wonderful paintings
but also his passion for and knowledge of the history of art in St Ives and West Cornwall. We
could not have run the exhibition without the dedication and commitment of a small team who
prepared the museum for mounting the material and the support of our wonderful team of
volunteers who welcome our visitors. We were delighted that so many people came to see the
exhibition, in particular the large number of locals, a number of whom said they had never
visited the museum previously. Our footfall actually increased by over 60% in 2023.”
Andy continued “Discovering St Ives was the first in a four year cycle of exhibitions telling the
story of the evolution of the art colony here. For 2024 we are running the next show, entitled
‘Capturing the Light: St Ives Artists 1885 – 1914’ which features some wonderful pieces by a
wide range of British and foreign artists. Once again we are indebted to David Tovey for his
generosity in loaning us many of the works for the exhibition.”
In addition to the ‘Exhibition of the Year’ award, the museum was highly commended in the
‘Spirit of the Awards’ category which recognises a commitment to environmental sustainability
and inclusion.
2024 promises to be an exciting year for the museum. In addition to the new exhibition there will
also be a significantly expanded display of fabrics and clothing manufactured by the Crysede
company, which opened on the Island in St Ives in 1926. There will also be a small new display
of Troika pottery and information about the company which operated between 1963 and 1970 in
what is part of the ground floor of the present museum building at Wheal Dream, before they
moved to Newlyn.
It is also the centenary of the museum in 2024. It was started by members of the St Ives Old
Cornwall Society in 1924, initially in a cellar on Pudding Bag Lane where the Sloop car park now
stands. The museum also operated in the 1950s and 1960s in the Passmore Edwards Building,
presently the site of the library and visitor information centre. In 1968 the museum opened in
part of the building at Wheal Dream before expanding to occupy the whole of the premises in
1970.
To celebrate the centenary the museum is in the process of creating a centenary trail around the
town which will display information about notable events and activities in St Ives history, linked
to objects and exhibits at the museum. There will also be a programme of fundraising,
educational and musical events.
The museum will reopen to the public on 1st April until 31st October. Entrance is £5 for adults,
with no charge for those under 16.