You may have seen, or have been following our project here in Penwith to save the Penzance School of Art buildings. When the sale of the building was suggested last year by the owners, a colleague and I (a ceramisist and a metalsmith maker and educator) stepped in with a proposal to purchase the buildings to bring a heritage arts and craft education, practise, celebration and community space to the town. The proposal was accepted and we have been on a steep learning journey to raise funds to bring this vision to life. We are thrilled to share that we have been awarded the Architechtural Heritage Fund viability grant and are currently working in this stage. Last week we were given the shock news that another group have sumitted a proposal, and for fairness both groups were given three months to submit their offer at market value. We are working in an responsible and established process of community led heritage regeneration, ensuring the buildings and their community access to broad arts education is protected for generations to come. As we move to developing the project further we are looking for community involvement and support in guiding the vision.
