FREE Public Guided Tours
2026-07-28 11:00 - 12:00, 2026-07-30 11:00 - 12:00, 2026-08-04 11:00 - 12:00, 2026-08-06 11:00 - 12:00, 2026-08-11 11:00 - 12:00, 2026-08-13 11:00 - 12:00, 2026-08-18 11:00 - 12:00, 2026-08-20 11:00 - 12:00 UTC and 6 more dates
Our team of Volunteer Tour Guides will be offering insights into the current exhibition through a program of short guided tours.
Tours will be offered at 11.00 a.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays. The tours are included in the admission price to the Gallery and last between 30 and 45 minutes. No booking is required, but places are allocated on a first-come, first-served basis.

Experience: Bronze Age Metal-Work
2026-07-30 10:00 - 12:30
Did you know that Mounts Bay was once covered in forest? And that the area around Penzance was known for producing metal and stone? This was traded extensively as early as the Bronze Age!Visit us at Penlee House Gallery & Museum to meet an expert archaeologist and take part in archaeological activities, as you explore the Bronze Age in Cornwall!Handle replica and genuine finds, take part in a mock dig and make prehistoric artefacts inspired by the Bronze Age axe heads in our collection.Discover archaeology with us, as part of the Festival of Archaeology 2026! Come join us for a drop-in workshop featuring axes & mining!
Free workshop, kindly provided by Penlee House

Festival of Archaeology: Art in the Park - Prehistoric Pots
2026-07-30 13:30 - 15:30
Explore the prehistoric pots in the museum at Penlee House, then join us to make your own pot out of air-drying clay. Learn about the tools and techniques used during the making process and try them out for yourself when creating your designs.

Arty Afternoons: Make a Lantern
2026-08-01 14:30 - 15:30
In the painting by Marianne Stokes, Lantern Light – which is on display in our ‘Making Her Mark’ exhibition – a boy is lit up by the glow of a lantern. Join us to make a 3D lantern based on the one in this painting.
FREE family activities take place every Saturday; drop in anytime between 2.30 pm and 3.30 pm.

Baby Sensory
2026-08-03 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.

Little Penlee Explorers: Drop-in sessions for under 5s
2026-08-03 10:00 - 12:00
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.

Art in the Park: Super Seagrass Craft
2026-08-06 13:30 - 15:30
Join Penlee House and Mounts Bay Marine group to learn all about seagrass, what creatures live in it and why it’s important. Explore our artworks that reveal where to find local seagrass and make a 3D seagrass-filled ocean scene using air dough and mixed materials.

Arty Afternoons: Tissue paper flowers
2026-08-08 14:30 - 15:30
Explore Gallery 1 here at Penlee House and spot the different flowers represented in the artworks. Taking inspiration from these beautiful blooms, join us to craft 3D versions out of tissue paper.
FREE family activities take place every Saturday; drop in anytime between 2.30 pm and 3.30 pm

Art in the Park: Save Our Sand Dunes!
2026-08-13 13:30 - 15:30
Explore facts about our local sand dunes with Mounts Bay Marine Group and through artworks from Penlee House Gallery & Museum. Learn about why it’s so important to protect them and how we can help to do this. Create a mixed media artwork based on saving our sand dunes.

Arty Afternoons: Colourful Self Portrait
2026-08-15 14:30 - 15:30
Can you spot Lily Martha Maud McDougall’s colourful self-portrait in Gallery 3? Draw your self-portrait, cut it out and add it to a beautiful, collaged tissue paper background to mirror a similar style and colour palette.
FREE family activities take place every Saturday; drop in anytime between 2.30 pm and 3.30 pm

Penlee Baby Sensory
2026-08-17 10:00 - 11:30, 2026-08-31 10:00 - 11:30, 2026-09-14 10:00 - 11:30

Art in the Park: Chalk and charcoal Views
2026-08-20 13:30 - 15:30
Take inspiration from the windswept scene in Wilhelmina Barns-Graham’s painting, Gurnards Head, No.2 – on display in our Making Her Mark exhibition. Using a similar limited colour palette and charcoal/chalk, create your own dramatic scene, either of where you live or a local view.

Art in the Park: Make a mini gallery
2026-08-27 13:30 - 15:30
Explore the Making Her Mark exhibition at Penlee House Gallery and think carefully about how the exhibition has been curated (put together). Make a mini 3D gallery space and curate your own exhibition, either using mini Penlee House artworks or by creating your own. Think about where you will hang each artwork, what the themes will be of each wall and what your exhibition will be called.

Friends of Penlee Event: Visit to the Jewish Cemetery in Penzance- Fully Booked
2026-09-02 11:00 - 12:00 | Penzance Jewish Cemetery, Leskinnick Terrace, Penzance TR18 2HB, Leskinnick Terrace, Penzance, TR18 2HB
The Penzance Jewish Cemetery is the best-preserved Jewish Cemetery from the Georgian era, outside London. It’s also an important part of national Jewish and local history, a rare survival from a minority community of the past. You will see beautifully preserved headstones, some entirely in Hebrew, and learn more about the community which lived in Penzance and which has left us this treasure.
Male visitors may wish to wear a cap or hat (but this is not a requirement).
A booklet about the cemetery is included in the price and will be given out on the day.
Access: There is a walk uphill from the meeting point to the Cemetery, taking about 5 minutes. Wheelchair access is to the entrance area only, and the ground is steep and very uneven. There is seating for 3 people only.
PLEASE NOTE: Places MUST be booked in advance via the Friends of Penlee House, and you can only attend if you are on the list of those who have booked. People who have not booked will not be admitted. A list of attendees will be passed to the speaker and to the Treasurer of the Jewish Cemetery to meet insurance requirements.
📅 Wednesday 2 September
🕚 11.00 am (please meet at 10.45 am)
📍 Meet outside The Longboat Inn, Penzance, where you will be escorted to the Cemetery. Please do not go directly to the Cemetery, as access is by escorted entry only for security reasons.
🎟️ Tickets: SOLD OUT

After Hours: Sip, Snip & Create
2026-09-10 18:30 - 20:30
Thursday 10 September · 6.30pm–8.30pm
At Penlee House Gallery & Museum
£30 per person
Please book tickets in advance through our online shop: After Hours: Sip, Snip & Create – Penlee House
Join artist Emma Saffy Wilson for a relaxed and creative evening of collage-making, inspired by the Making Her Mark exhibition.
Take a closer look at the paintings in the exhibition and discover the textures, details, objects and fragments that catch your eye. Using these as inspiration, you’ll select, cut, rework and rearrange imagery to create your own contemporary collage.
No previous art experience is needed — bring your curiosity and creativity. You’ll leave with your own small, framed artwork to take home.
The Making Her Mark exhibition will be open throughout the evening, giving you the chance to explore the works and gather inspiration before creating your own piece.
Your £30 ticket includes:

A creative collage workshop led by Emma Saffy Wilson
All art materials
A glass of wine or soft drink
Nibbles
Your own framed collage to take home
Access to the Making Her Mark exhibition

Places are limited to 15
18+ only
