The West Cornwall Art Archive: establishment and purpose

The WCAA incorporates books, archival material, slides, auction catalogues, artists' archives, photographic collections (including scrap books) and other ephemera and documents relating to the arts and literature of West Cornwall from the 1880s to the present day.

To make this happen, an editorial team has been formed to gather, process and disseminate research findings – together with the sources for that information – based on the collection of data gathered first for the Dictionary and Source-book, ARTISTS IN NEWLYN AND WEST CORNWALL 1880-1940 (2009, Art Dictionaries Ltd.), available from booksellers generally, and from us if you are visiting. Added to this, the Forbes Reading Room offers a large reference collection, added to on a regular basis, allowing us to update our on-line entries, and to undertake further research on a collaborative basis. Photocopies and research assistance will be available at cost. 

The aim is to add-in all artists to the present-day who have worked and exhibited in the art colonies of Cornwall – wherever in the county the artists' studios flourish. General bibliographical references, and hopefully in future more illustration for the individual artists, will be added as the information flow begins.

These artistic communities have artistic traditions inextricably linked to the social and cultural history of the region. There have been artists and craft workers in Cornwall from early times, and these will be researched and added into the panoply. Painters documented the lives of the local populations in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and many indigenous families modelled for them. Sculptors, ceramists and metal workers furthered their arts in ways influential nationally and internationally.

Writers have not only documented the visual arts, but added to general fiction and the literary arts in wide-ranging ways. The artistic and cultural industries remain central to the life and economy of the area, and the study of these individuals and their talents is in strong demand. The literary arts or book arts are catered for within our project by library collections, and the Forbes Room, Trevelyan House, Chapel Street, Penzance, TR18 4AW is open to visitors by appointment. (Tel: 01736 366597, e-mail: info@hypatia-trust.org.uk)

Linking

Cornwall Records Office, Hypatia Trust, Newlyn Art Gallery, Penlee House Gallery & Museum, University College Falmouth and the Tate St Ives: Each of these organisations has contributed to the development of the Archive to date. The Archive will link the above organisations to offer opportunities for learning by enabling public access to this material for the first time. The intention is to provide online access as well as limited physical access to the documents and records. Through the auspices of these organisations, the Archive will be used in the context of both formal education and life-long learning, and enable the local community as well as visitors to research and identify their family associations with the arts of the area.

Trustees

Graham Bazley (WH Lane Fine Arts); Dr Melissa Hardie (Hypatia Trust); James Green (Newlyn Art Gallery); Alison Bevan (Penlee House Museum & Art Gallery).  Hon Curator: Dr Melissa Hardie

Patrons

Thanks for their support and interest are offered to George Bednar, Hypatia Trust, and the Tanner Trust, and to website developer, Nick Harpley. Our work is free of charge to the end-users, though all donations are both appreciated and needed for sustaining an operating team and the webspace necessary for its function.  The WCAA is a registered charity (England & Wales).