The former Royal Cornwall Museum in Truro reopened over the weekend (on Saturday March 1) with a new look and name. Now called the Cornwall Museum and Art Gallery, the southwestern institution welcomed visitors to a new art gallery with over 500 pieces dating from the 1300s to the modern day.
The permanent collection features artworks from the German, Italian and Dutch renaissances, the pre-Raphaelites, and St Ives modernism. The gallery opened with exhibition 'Biodiversity' by the Penwith-based contemporary artist Kurt Jackson, followed by 'Exploring Time: A Painter’s Perspective' by artist and environmentalist Tony Foster, who is based in Tywardreath.
Speaking to Museums Association, Jackson said: ‘Art isn’t meant to be stored away for posterity, it’s meant to inspire and provoke, to elicit conversations and creative responses, and that’s exactly what this new art gallery for Cornwall will do.’
The 200-year-old museum is in the midst of a transformation project and last year it upgraded its Rashleigh Mineral Gallery, which houses its collection of minerals from Cornwall’s mining industry. There have also been improvements to the museum’s roof, as well as accessibility updates to its entrance and renovations to the main gallery space.
A total of £2.3 million in funding for the renovation came from the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Good Growth Programme via the UK Government’s Shared Prosperity Fund.
Artistic director Bryony Robins said: ‘There are so many different stories to explore through the museum’s collections and we’ve worked hard with our communities to re-imagine and re-display some amazing and surprising objects, along with providing fun and interactive activities.
‘Our ambitions for the museum are really bold and we see ourselves as playing an important role for our local communities, as well as a place for visitors from further afield to get to know Cornwall more deeply.’
Cornwall Museum and Art Gallery was founded in 1818 by the Royal Institution of Cornwall, and moved to its current location, which was previously a bank and then a mining school, in 1919. It contains over a million artefacts from around the world, including the Artognou stone from Tintagel Castle, often referred to as Arthur’s stone due to the folklore surrounding the area.
The official relaunch of the museum will take place on Wednesday March 5, St Piran’s Day.
Further improvements to the galleries and facilities will take place in 2026.
ICYMI: 75 miles of coastal paths in Cornwall have had a glow-up.
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