Visitors flock to St Ives to visit the Tate overlooking Porthmeor Beach which is worth the visit just for the view from the café. If you have time, do go on to the Barbara Hepworth Museum, brilliant, and the Leach Pottery (where it all began, where what began you may ask - The Leach Dynasty of potters). All fine men and true. What is surprising is the lack of quality galleries in St Ives. One comes across amateur-looking studios and gift shops plying repro-prints and calling them Originals! The best, by far is The Millenium Gallery, opposite the Tourist Information Centre. For my money you must move on to Penzance and Newlyn if you need to cover wall space with pictures, alcoves with sculpture and ceramics, fingers and necks with jewellery. The most pro-active gallery or the one that is constantly in contact with me is Cornwall Contemporary run by the charming Ms Sara Brittain, and around the corner to complement her, you have the Stoneman Gallery. Newlyn has Badcocks, run by real enthusiasts, and over the bridge the Newlyn Art Gallery, a supporter of Installation Art, not my thing but if you like looking over rows of matchsticks (laboriously placed in patterns) or something similar, go for it. There are other centres of Art, usually in locations out of the way, or where there is cheaper housing like St Just-in-Penwith and St Agnes. Unless you have made-it, you won’t find many artists living in the Lamorna Valley like the leading figures of the Newlyn School, Stanhope Forbes and Lamorna Birch.
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