Penwith Gallery

Lat 50.2159° N, lon 5.4792° W●Things to do in St Ives

Penwith Gallery

Back Road West, St Ives, TR26 1NL

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Things to do · St Ives

About Penwith Gallery

The Penwith Gallery is home to the Penwith Society of Arts, founded in St Ives in 1949 by a group of artists including Barbara Hepworth and Ben Nicholson. It occupies a former pilchard packing factory on Back Road West in the old part of the town. The complex has three public galleries showing changing exhibitions by society members and invited artists, along with an outdoor sculpture area, a shop, an archive and artists' studios. Exhibitions change regularly through the year; in autumn 2026, for example, the Newlyn Society of Artists autumn exhibition is showing alongside a solo show in the studio gallery, and the gallery also hosts talks on its own history. Entry is free and the gallery opens Monday to Saturday from 10am to 5pm. It is a good place to see work by artists living and working in west Cornwall today, and to understand the town's art history alongside the larger national galleries. Allow half an hour to an hour, and combine it with a walk through the narrow streets nearby.

Good to know

  • Free entry
  • Open Monday to Saturday, 10am to 5pm
  • Founded in 1949 by artists including Barbara Hepworth and Ben Nicholson
  • Three galleries plus an outdoor sculpture area
  • Housed in a former pilchard packing factory

Address: Back Road West, St Ives, TR26 1NL.

Official site: Penwith Gallery website, for opening times and tickets.

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