Falmouth has a rich history in the arts rooted in Falmouth School of Art,
The Cornwall Polytechnic Society and Falmouth Art Gallery
Falmouth has been the home to Falmouth School of Art, now Falmouth University, since 1902. This has brought a continuous succession of creative people, both as staff and as students into Falmouth. Over the years it has grown from a small private fine art and drawing school to incorporate many other artistic disciplines including photography, product design, textiles, creative writing, digital media, film, journalism, dance, music, and gaming.
The Cornwall Polytechnic Society, known locally as “The Poly”, was founded in 1833 by Anna Maria and Caroline, daughters of Robert Were Fox of G.C Fox & Co, a leading Falmouth firm of shipping agents and joint owners of Perran Foundry. The society was formed to “promote the useful and fine arts, to encourage industry, and to elicit the ingenuity of a community distinguished for its mechanical skill”.
The Polytechnic Hall building started life in 1836 as a space on Church Street to house the annual exhibition and has grown into an important community arts hub with a theatre, galleries, pottery and guild of local artists and makers.
This award-winning gallery houses one of the most important collections of art in Cornwall with over 2,000 artworks that range from Pre-Raphaelite and British Impressionist paintings – including The Lady of Shalott by John William Waterhouse – to contemporary prints and photography. It is also home to the largest contemporary collection of automata in a public museum, the Children’s Illustration Archive and one of the most important print collections outside of London.
The temporary exhibition programme shows works from the collection alongside loans from national galleries and Cornish artists.
The building dates from 1896 and was designed by WH Tresidder in a mixture of styles combining Italianate, Renaissance, neo-classical and Flemish details. It later became the library and art gallery.