Newlyn Art Gallery's expansion plans have taken a major step forward with the appointment of an 'innovative' architecture partnership to draw up schemes for two different buildings. The development of the gallery will, said its director this week, be part of a new initiative recognising the excellence of creativity in the area and an important potential for economic development.
The proposed developments at the main gallery on Newlyn's New Road and at the old Telephone Exchange Building on Princes Street, Penzance, follows a lengthy period of consultation between the Gallery and its 'audience' - the local community and the arts community.
In Newlyn, refurbishment will include better behind-the-scenes space and better facilities, improved gallery shop, coffee venue, improved entrance and education space, all facilitated through a building extension on the seaward side.
In Penzance a new gallery on the ground floor is planned and the creation of a flexible gallery space plus a purpose-built education facility. There will also be a gallery shop and small cafe.
Newlyn Art Gallery director Elizabeth Knowles said: "The one architecture partnership will design schemes for both galleries, taking up the challenge of working with two such different buildings - each with its own strong character and its own distinct set of possibilities and problems."
A competition was organised by the RIBA, attracting 58 firms from all over the UK and abroad. The firm selected is a partnership of young Scottish architects, MUMA. The partners are Stuart McKnight, Simon Usher and Gillian McInnes, and one of their current projects is a new scheme for one wing of the Victoria & Albert Museum in London.
Elizabeth Knowles added: "While major funding applications are still in hand, with results expected around the end of this year, schemes for the galleries in Newlyn and Penzance can now be drawn up and discussed by all interested parties. We all look forward to working with MUMA because we very much like the look of their work and the way they have approached our twin-track scheme."
The team that currently runs Newlyn Art Gallery will develop into the management behind the two gallery spaces, each with its own distinctive programme.
There will, says the director, be more scope and more flexibility. "Integrated with our programme of national and international visual art exhibitions, there will be better showcases for art and craft work by artists and makers living and working in Cornwall. Our development, if we achieve it, will be part of a new initiative that recognises the excellence of creativity in our area as well as its important potential for economic development."
The proposed developments at the main gallery on Newlyn's New Road and at the old Telephone Exchange Building on Princes Street, Penzance, follows a lengthy period of consultation between the Gallery and its 'audience' - the local community and the arts community.
In Newlyn, refurbishment will include better behind-the-scenes space and better facilities, improved gallery shop, coffee venue, improved entrance and education space, all facilitated through a building extension on the seaward side.
In Penzance a new gallery on the ground floor is planned and the creation of a flexible gallery space plus a purpose-built education facility. There will also be a gallery shop and small cafe.
Newlyn Art Gallery director Elizabeth Knowles said: "The one architecture partnership will design schemes for both galleries, taking up the challenge of working with two such different buildings - each with its own strong character and its own distinct set of possibilities and problems."
A competition was organised by the RIBA, attracting 58 firms from all over the UK and abroad. The firm selected is a partnership of young Scottish architects, MUMA. The partners are Stuart McKnight, Simon Usher and Gillian McInnes, and one of their current projects is a new scheme for one wing of the Victoria & Albert Museum in London.
Elizabeth Knowles added: "While major funding applications are still in hand, with results expected around the end of this year, schemes for the galleries in Newlyn and Penzance can now be drawn up and discussed by all interested parties. We all look forward to working with MUMA because we very much like the look of their work and the way they have approached our twin-track scheme."
The team that currently runs Newlyn Art Gallery will develop into the management behind the two gallery spaces, each with its own distinctive programme.
There will, says the director, be more scope and more flexibility. "Integrated with our programme of national and international visual art exhibitions, there will be better showcases for art and craft work by artists and makers living and working in Cornwall. Our development, if we achieve it, will be part of a new initiative that recognises the excellence of creativity in our area as well as its important potential for economic development."
Article copyright THE CORNISHMAN