Penlee House

Jennifer Brown – A Centenary Celebration
2025-06-02 10:00 - 2025-06-07 16:30, 2025-05-26 10:00 - 2025-05-31 16:30, 2025-05-19 10:00 - 2025-05-24 16:30, 2025-05-15 10:00 - 2025-05-17 16:30 UTC
Jennifer Brown (27.05.1925 – 16.04.2008) was born in London and studied at Kingston School of Art. In 1975, with her husband and four children, she moved to Newlyn, and then Penzance, where Jennifer studied printmaking at the Penzance School of Art.

A founder member of Penwith Printmakers and a member of the Newlyn Society of Artists, she exhibited at several venues in the 1980s and 90s, from Penlee House to the Mid-Cornwall Galleries and further afield from Bournemouth to London.

Jennifer was renowned for her individual, quirky etchings and verses and was the author of three poetry collections, A Picker Up of Pieces, Cucumber Sandwiches and Life Bites. Although many of her prints and poems were amusing, her work also commented on the human condition, often sardonic and laced with sadness.

A small display of Jennifer’s work has been staged to commemorate the centenary of her birth and will be on show in the Social History gallery until 18 June.

Arty Afternoon: A Fan of Feathers!
2025-05-31 14:30 - 15:30
Design and decorate lots of feathers, making them as colourful as you can. Then fix your feathers together to make a beautiful fan to keep you cool on a hot summers day.

FREE family activities take place every Saturday; drop in anytime between 2.30pm and 3.30pm.

Half Term Activity: Quill a Bird
2025-05-29 13:30 - 15:30
Explore the exhibition at Penlee House and discover lots of different types of birds. Join us to learn how to quill paper and make your own colourful, patterned bird.

Arty Afternoons: Bird Nests and Eggs
2025-05-24 14:30 - 15:30
Come along to the Birds exhibition at Penlee House and explore the beautiful artworks. Make a 3D nest using recycled materials and make colourful eggs to nestle in your nest.

FREE family activities take place every Saturday; drop in anytime between 2.30pm and 3.30pm.

Lecture: Birds of Cornwall
2025-05-21 19:30 - 21:00 | Queen’s Hotel, Penzance
Join us for an enlightening event with Jenny Parker the RSPB Cornwall Reserves Site Manager, who is dedicated to highlighting the challenges facing Cornwall’s precious reserves and birdlife. Attendees can expect an in-depth discussion on the impacts of habitat loss and climate change, enriched by Jenny’s deep insights and expertise.
Whether you’re a seasoned environmentalist or simply curious about local wildlife, this lecture promises to provide valuable information and inspire action to protect Cornwall’s natural treasures.
📅 Wednesday 21st May
🕣 7:30 PM
📍 Queen’s Hotel, Penzance
🎟 £7.00 for Friends of Penlee House | £15.00 for Non-Friends
Book Now!

Arty Afternoons: Mix and Match Bird Book
2025-05-17 14:30 - 15:30
Taking inspiration from all the different types of birds in the Birds exhibition at Penlee House, design and draw your own mix-and-match book. What heads, bodies and legs can you match up to make a weird and wonderful new type of bird

FREE family activities take place every Saturday; drop in anytime between 2.30 pm and 3.30 pm.

Arty Afternoons: Breon O’Casey Bird Silhouettes
2025-05-10 14:30 - 15:30
Explore the Breon O’Casey artwork in our exhibition about birds. What colours and patterns can you see? What kind of bird do you think it is in the art? Make paper cutouts inspired by Breon O’Casey’s simple, colourful shapes.

FREE family activities take place every Saturday; drop in anytime between 2.30 pm and 3.30 pm.

Arty Afternoons: Air Dough Cornish Pottery
2025-05-03 14:30 - 15:30
Check out the Cornish pottery we have in our Social History Museum space. From Leach and Tremaen pottery to Celtic Folk designs, the pottery we have on display is full of vibrant patterns. Taking inspiration from these designs, draw and score shapes and colours onto air dough to create your own Cornish pottery.

FREE family activities take place every Saturday; drop in anytime between 2.30pm and 3.30pm.

Arty Afternoons: Save our Seas Mixed Media Collage
2025-04-26 14:30 - 15:30
There are lots of messages in our exhibition about looking after our ocean and reducing plastic waste. Explore the sea scenes and create a mixed-media collage of seaweed, nets, and ocean colours.

FREE family activities take place every Saturday; drop in anytime between 2.30pm and 3.30pm

Arty Afternoons: Changing Seasons Wheel
2025-04-19 14:30 - 15:30
How many seasons can you spot in the paintings in our galleries? Come and join us to make a changing seasons wheel. Draw and collage the different seasons onto a wheel, thinking carefully about the different colours that are used to represent the types of weather.

FREE family activities take place every Saturday; drop in anytime between 2.30 pm and 3.30 pm.

Half Term Activity: Reuse and Recycle Textiles!
2025-04-17 13:30 - 15:30
Taking inspiration from our current exhibition ‘The Shape of Things: Our place in a changing climate’ come and design and make textile art. Collage Easter bonnets for famous faces from our collection or make a rag rug out of recycled material.

Arty Afternoons: Make a Mini 3D Wind Turbine
2025-04-12 14:30 - 15:30
Wind power is a brilliant way to make sustainable energy to power our homes. Make a mini 3D wind turbine and decorate to look like how you think a creative wind turbine should look!!

FREE family activities take place every Saturday; drop in anytime between 2.30 pm and 3.30 pm.

Half Term Activity: Eco Easter Bunnies
2025-04-10 13:30 - 15:30
Hop on over to Penlee House this Thursday, 10th April, from 1:30 pm to 3:30 pm for a fun, free and eco-friendly craft session! Get creative and make your own vibrant and unique Easter bunnies using recycled materials.

The Shape of Things: Talk and Q&A with Rachel Yates, Sustainable PZ
2025-04-09 19:00 - 20:30
Join Rachel Yates from Sustainable PZ for an informal talk on the work that’s happening in the town to create a thriving community for the future—one that puts people, place, and planet first. From how it all began with Plastic Free PZ to connecting local work to national and global action … and the story in between. Why does Sustainable PZ do the work it does, in the way it does, and does it really make any difference?
Date: Wednesday 9 April
Time: 19:30 GMT
Location: Penlee House Gallery & Museum
Price: FREE, but booking is essential

Arty Afternoons: Origami Boats
2025-04-05 14:30 - 15:30
Man the boats! Explore the paintings in the galleries that have boats in them and seek out the colourful origami boats made by Heamoor School. Design your own brightly coloured patterns and maybe include messages about climate change, then learn how to fold it into an origami boat.

FREE family activities take place every Saturday; drop in anytime between 2.30 pm and 3.30 pm.

The Shape of Things: Climate Cafe supported by Sustainable Penzance
2025-04-04 14:00 - 16:00
Come and share a cuppa and some cake with like-minded individuals at our Climate Cafe. You can find out about work that’s happening in the town to create a better future for all, as well as chat about the current issues we’re facing as a community. This is an open space to bring yourself as you are. What are your concerns, worries and observations? How does it all make you feel? And where are the positive actions and outlets that we can all access to support each other, and the beautiful planet we call home.
Date: Friday 4 April
Time: 2.00 pm- 4.00 pm
Location: Penlee House Coach House
Price: Free

The Shape of Things: Reuse and Create workshop with Charlie Lewin- Sold Out
2025-04-04 10:00 - 12:30
Join us for a creative recycling workshop. Bring fabric scraps or unwanted old clothes and use them to create a piece in response to the exhibition The Shape of Things. Working with artist Charlie Lewin, you will select a section of an artwork and explore ways to develop your own response to it.
Dates: Saturday 29 March 2025
Time: 10.00 am – 12.30 pm
Location: The Coach House, Penlee House
Tickets: This event is free but booking is essential

Baby Sensory
2025-03-03 10:00 - 11:30
Free, drop-in session for babies from birth to crawlers. Come and experience the amazing artworks whilst exploring sensory play together in the Gallery.

Arty Afternoons: Save the Bees Jigsaw
2025-03-29 14:30 - 15:30
Seek out the beautiful bee wall hanging in Gallery 3. How many different types of bees can you spy? Join us to make a honeycomb jigsaw out of coloured cards full of bees and bee-friendly flowers.

FREE family activities take place every Saturday; drop in anytime between 2.30 pm and 3.30 pm.

The Shape of Things: Seaweed pressing workshop with The Seaweed Institute - Sold Out
2025-03-29 10:00 - 12:30
Join us to learn the craft of seaweed pressing – a Victorian practice that captures the underwater beauty of seaweeds.
During the workshop you will learn to recognise and identify local seaweed species. The cultural history of seaweeds will be discussed, as well it’s agricultural, scientific and ecological uses. You will learn how to forage, store and use this abundant resource.
After laying out your designs they will be loaded into our seaweed press where they will dry over the next weeks. You will receive the finished pieces by post once they are ready.
Dates: Saturday 29 March 2025
Time: 10.00 am – 12.30 pm
Location: The Coach House, Penlee House
Tickets: This event is free but booking is essential

Arty Afternoons: Market Place – Air Dough Food
2025-03-22 14:30
Taking inspiration from Market Place by Stanhope Forbes, make a mini market stall. Fill your stall with locally grown food made from colourful air dough.

FREE family activities take place every Saturday; drop in anytime between 2.30 pm and 3.30 pm.

The Shape of Things: Embroidered bees workshop with Vicky Harrison - Sold Out
2025-03-22 10:00 - 13:00, 2025-03-08 10:00 - 13:00
Find out about the many Cornish bee species, their importance in ecosystems and how we can help save them. Embroider a bee to be added to the community quilt currently on display in the exhibition, The Shape of Things: Our Place in a Changing Climate at Penlee House.
Please attend both weeks. If you cannot attend both weeks, please note this when booking.
Dates: Saturday 8 and 22 March 2025
Time: 10.00 am – 1.00 pm
Location: The Coach House, Penlee House
Tickets: This event is free but booking is essential

These workshops are part of an ongoing community project, Embroidered Bees for West Penwith, and bees created during the workshops will be added to the quilt after the exhibition. More information can be found here
https://www.facebook.com/groups/embroideredbees/

Little Penlee Explorers: Drop-in sessions for under 5s
2025-03-17 10:00 - 11:30
Join us to explore, play and create at Penlee House! With activities throughout the galleries, these free, drop-in sessions are for under 5s and their grown-ups.
Monthly on Mondays, 10 am-12 pm.

Arty Afternoons: Weather Mobile
2025-03-15 14:30 - 15:30
Explore the different types of weather represented in our paintings and responses. How many can you see? Craft a 3D weather mobile and illustrate the different types of weather using mixed media.

FREE family activities take place every Saturday; drop in anytime between 2.30 pm and 3.30 pm.

Arty Afternoons: Landscapes of the Future
2025-03-08 14:30 - 15:30
Explore the paintings from the collections at Penlee House that are in The Shape of Things exhibition. What would these landscapes look like in the future? Collage new ideas and future visions to the traditional landscapes.

FREE family activities take place every Saturday; drop in anytime between 2.30 pm and 3.30 pm.
