Your Monthly Roundup: September
Each month we share a roundup of the latest news and events, exhibitions and blogs to keep you up to date with all of the latest ‘goings on’.
To receive our monthly update straight to your inbox, just sign up below!
September Features
The Big Draw Festival 2025
Every October, organisers across the globe sign up to be part of this collaborative festival, hosting everything from hands-on workshops and exhibitions to large-scale collaborative projects.
Experienced tutors Hilary Jean Gibson, Liz Luckwell and Jill Eisele lead our workshops, and cover everything from still life to drawing the details of the boats in St Ives harbour.
St Ives September Festival
From Saturday, opening day will herald two weeks of events including music, poetry, comedy, exhibitions, and talks including a range of short workshops at St Ives School of Painting.
There’s plenty more happening around the time, with live music and special talks and tours at the historic Porthmeor Studios including talks from artist in residence Rebecca Moss and local historian Janet Axton.
Exhibitions
Life in Full Colour | Camilla Dixon
12 Sept – Oct 2025 | St Ives Library, Gabriel Street
Free Entry | Life Drawing Session: £16
During her time at Central St Martins, in the early 90’s, artist tutor Camilla Dixon discovered the fun of drawing the clothed figure from life. Responding to the character and movement of the pose, experimenting with materials, marks and different ways of looking at the model, put ‘life drawing’ in a whole new context, and formed the basis of her professional career.
This Month’s Watch
Discover our brand-new episode from our Brushwork series featuring artist tutor, Iona Sanders. Iona visits Newlyn, the coastal fishing town where she grew up and now works from her studio; opening up about pivotal moments in her life and career, this an inspiring watch.
This Month’s Read
This August marked 100 years since Alfred Wallis first picked up a paintbrush – beginning a remarkable, self-taught artistic career that continues to resonate across the art world.
Read more about his incredible life and career, and discover how his paintings are still being appreciated today.
Sign Up
Want to be kept up to date each month? Sign up to our newsletter to receive updates on all of our courses and a monthly roundup of new & events. You can update your preferences to let us know how often you would like to hear from us and what you would like to hear about!
More ways to stay in the loop
11/9/2025
Share on
Related Stories
Wilhelmina Barns-Graham Trust
The Wilhelmina Barns-Graham Trust was established by Scottish artist Wilhelmina Barns-Graham in 1987. The trust aims to foster, protect and promote the reputation of Barns-Graham as well as supporting and inspiring art and art history students through the provision of bursaries and scholarships. The Artist’s Life and Legacy Wilhelmina Barns-Graham, known as Willie, was born...
Inscape Outscape: A group exhibition
We are pleased to share an upcoming exhibition, ‘Inscape Outscape’. A collection of works by a group of contemporary artists who teach at the St Ives School of Painting. Made up of work from 18 artists, all with connections to St Ives and Cornwall, the exhibition will be open to the public from 10-17 December...
Artists & Illustrators: The Art of Keeping it Simple
As seen in… Artists and two of tutors Liz Luckwell and Marion Taylor share their insights to achieving modernist minimalism in a modern time frame. Harness the powerful abstract potential of the still life, inspired by modernist icons William Scott and Ben Nicholson. Though still resolutely abstract, these 1940s paintings had a domestic quality to...