We’re getting in the party spirit for the opening of the new Tate St Ives. We’ll be DJing on a for the opening party on 12 Oct – on a carpeted installation (don’t wear socks with holes in!) . There will be a whole massive shiny gallery to look around, and when you venture up a few flights, there’ll be some chilled out electronic stuff and french pop… and then after 9 we’ll crack open the funky wax for lots of leg waggling and hip shaking (oh, and the carpet means there can be plenty of slippery foot moves!)
The new Tate St Ives officially opens a couple of days later on 14 October 2017. A four-year building project has doubled the space for showing art, adding almost 600 square metres of galleries, and created spectacular new studios for learning activities. This finally gives Cornwall’s most popular gallery enough space to accommodate the quarter of a million visitors it welcomes each year – over three times the number for which it was originally designed – who bring £11 million annually to the local economy. Whoop whoop!
The new gallery, sunk into the cliff alongside the original building, offers artists and curators a column-free space lit by six huge skylights. Designed by the award-winning Jamie Fobert Architects, it will allow Tate St Ives to stay open all year round for the first time, without the need to close each time the exhibitions change.
Exciting new spaces for learning activities and events have also been created to meet growing demand. Evans and Shalev, the architects of the original Tate St Ives building, returned to add a new space for hands-on workshops and family activities, a studio for visitors to explore archival and digital material about the art on display, and a spectacular glazed studio on the roof terrace with views out over the sea. Now, that sounds pretty cool!
The new gallery opens with a major exhibition of new and recent work by Rebecca Warren, renowned for her exuberant, roughly-worked clay sculptures. In 2018, this space will be used for an exhibition of women artists inspired by Virginia Woolf, a retrospective of Patrick Heron’s vibrant paintings, and a specially commissioned project by contemporary artists Nashashibi / Skaer.
Mark Osterfield, Executive Director, Tate St Ives said:
“The new Tate St Ives unites the local with the international, the historic with the contemporary, in a venue which brings people together to create, learn and enjoy. I am grateful to Cornwall Council who have always understood the educational, recreational, and economic advantages of this project. Through our partnership the gallery will continue to engage with the people of Cornwall and visitors from across the world, continuing the tradition of hospitality for which Cornwall is well known.”
Matt Ashdown, Bear, Moogie Wonderland said:
“I can’t wait for people to slip their shoes off, get on the funky carpet installation that’s been laid down, and waggle their their toes in celebration. The new Tate St Ives is definitely something to party about!”
Image: Tate St Ives by Jamie Fobert Architects Photography © Hufton+Crow
