The Friday evening saw a celebratory launch of the event from 6-9pm with the return of much-loved local choir the Ingleheart Singers and complimentary minces pies and mulled wine in the Melting Pot Café.
Having welcomed more than a thousand people through their doors for the highly successful Open Studios Cornwall in the summer, Krowji’s artists and makers had been working overtime to make their pre-Christmas weekend extra special for seasoned and first-time visitors alike.
As well as exploring the treasures to be found in every nook and cranny of Krowji’s Old Grammar School, visitors also had the chance to view the new state-of-the-art workspace taking shape on the Redruth hill-top which saw Krowji flourishing among the UK’s top creative communities.
The rich diversity of practitioners opening their studios in December 2014 saw many new tenants including painters, textile and leather craft-workers, ceramicists, jewellers and illustrators. In addition to the Friday Open Evening, visitors had the chance to look, buy and talk to the artists in their studios about ongoing projects and future plans from 11am to 5pm on Saturday and Sunday.
“Momentous dreams are becoming a reality in this little corner of Redruth,” said artist Kerry Harding, who has an elevated view from her airy first floor studio of the £3.7 million development which more than doubled the highly sought after Krowji creative space available to more than 200 people working in the arts and creative industries.
“While I’ve been working on my canvasses it’s been fascinating also to watch derelict bits of school building from the 50s and 70s pulled down and the huge steel structure going up for the new eco-building. I think this is a very exciting time for our whole creative community as we thrive and grow.”
Krowji Studio Manager Elisa Harris gave tours of the old grammar school buildings as well as the new development – which won backing both from private sources and the European Regional Development Fund’s Convergence Programme – at 11am and 2pm on Saturday 6th December as an opportunity for visitors to hear how it all began, see the Krowji development in progress and find out more about renting spaces in the new buildings
“We all love our biannual Open Studios events as they’re the perfect showcase for the amazing talents within our creative community,” said Elisa – herself an artist.
“This Christmas is especially merry for us as alongside all the beautiful things to see and hold and buy we can also show off our fantastic new building as it takes shape and becomes part of the whole bright future of Krowji.“
There were ceramic workshops running throughout the weekend with Ceramicist Gail Aspen.
For more information about Open Studios at Krowji please visit www.krowji.org.uk/open-studios or email [email protected] for more information about renting the new workspaces.
