St Ives Past & Present

Experience the history of the St Ives art scene through this collection of films featuring St Ives School of Painting and the importance of St Ives and Porthmeor Studios as an artists’ colony.

Since 1938.

A glimpse into St Ives and the St Ives School of Painting originally established here in 1938 by Leonard Fuller. Have fun spotting the same buildings that still surround the studios in the artistic quarter. See how little has changed!

See Leonard Fuller taking his group of art students out at 9min and at 22.43 see him teaching in the same studios where we are today.

The Renovation of Porthmeor Studios

In 2012 the £4M renovation of Porthmeor Studios was finally completed. Decades of exposure to Atlantic gales had greatly weakened the fabric of the building and it found itself on the English Heritage ‘Buildings At Risk Register. The works involved the repair and strengthening of the building, improving access and acoustic and thermal insulation.

The studios now provides high quality and essential workspace for fishermen in four cellars; for artists in fifteen studios and with two studios each for the St Ives School of Painting and the Borlase Smart John Wells Trust.

The films below give you a glimpse into the studios before they were transformed into the warm, comfortable space we occupy today.