Now in its fifth year, Penlee Inspired makes a welcome return to Penlee House Gallery & Museum, exhibiting artistic responses from the public to the Gallery’s collections of art and artefacts.

This unique exhibition will showcase contemporary talent: professional artists, amateurs and total beginners have been invited to create works in a variety of media, including paintings, photographs, poetry and more. Filling the galleries alongside the pieces that inspired them, these modern works will highlight not only the breadth of artistic skill in contemporary Cornwall and further afield, but the enduring power and relevance of these earlier works.

With over a hundred entries, staff at Penlee have carefully selected pieces that show not just technical proficiency, but a direct link to the Gallery & Museum, its collections and exhibitions. Entrants range from schoolchildren to retirees, artists to fishermen, and each piece combines personal memory, experience and creativity with the influence of Penlee House’s historic collections.

Thanks to funding from the Friends of Penlee House and Arts Council England, the Gallery was able to run a series of artist-led community workshops encouraging people to create works for submission to the exhibition. Alongside open workshops for adults and families, the Gallery also worked with community groups including the John Daniel Centre, Morrab Surgery Social Prescribing Service and Camborne Deaf Church.

Penlee’s Acting Director, Katie Herbert says, “The exhibition includes classic Newlyn School paintings from the collection such as Norman Garstin’s popular ‘The Rain it Raineth Every Day’, alongside responses to this year’s exhibition programme, notably our recent Walter Langley exhibition.

We wanted the exhibition to be a celebration of the creativity that a visit to Penlee House inspires and have therefore prioritised works that have a clear, direct line of inspiration from an exhibit or workshop at the Gallery.”

The Penlee Inspired exhibition opens on 18 January 2023 and runs until 22 April. Opening hours are from 10.00am to 4.30pm (last admissions 4pm), Monday to Saturday.