Penzance Selects

Members of the local community have curated a major new exhibition at Penlee House Gallery & Museum, Penzance.  Around thirty individuals have taken part in a series of workshops that have included behind-the-scenes access to the Penlee House stores.  Four different groups have been allocated a gallery to curate and have worked with artists and staff at Penlee House to re-interpret the collections.

Carefree Cornwall works with young people living in and leaving care and has helped young people access arts and culture since 2006.  For Penzance Selects, the young people have worked with a sound artist to record a soundscape interpret the paintings in Penlee House’s collection.  Visitors will be able to hear the soundscape created for the artworks, including classics such as ‘The Rain it Raineth Every Day’.

The John Daniel Centre is a day service provision for adults with a learning disability. For their gallery in Penzance Selects, the participants have chosen to explore the photographic collection, creating a map of Penzance ‘then and now’ featuring old photographs of local landmarks.  This map will be displayed in the gallery and a printed version will be available to take away.  The group has also recorded information as an audio tour of Penzance which can be downloaded using an app.

Mounts Bay Academy’s year seven art classes have been working with an artist to explore the history of Penlee House and its collections.  They will re-interpret the historic collections using their own artworks and display these alongside artefacts that they have selected from the stores.

Gallery five has been curated by a team of Citizen Curators, who will be exploring the history of creativity in Newlyn through the paintings of the Newlyn School and Lamorna artists, Newlyn Copper and Cryséde.  Citizen Curators are volunteers who attend monthly training sessions to learn more about behind-the-scenes work in museums.

Alongside Penzance Selects, Cornwall Crafts Association will be staging a Crafts for Christmas exhibition. This is an excellent opportunity to purchase a gift for Christmas or find a unique piece for yourself.

Main Image: Elizabeth Forbes (1852-1912) – The Pied Piper, mixed media, Penlee House Gallery & Museum