Museum showcases student creativity in summer show

Art students from a local college have been given the chance to hang their work alongside Cornwall’s most treasured collections.

The Cornwall College Summer Show exhibit at the Royal Cornwall Museum has seen student masterpieces from the college’s second year degree course on display since the end of June, with third year students taking over the space from 13th July until 23rd July.

Senior study programme manager for art and design at Cornwall College Camborne, Jamie Hanson, said the exhibition was a “marvellous opportunity” for his students.

He added: “Those studying an art degree with were given the chance to select an object or artefact from the museum collection, and then go on to create their own visual response to that chosen artefact.

“This is an incredibly exciting opportunity for them and will be the first major showcase of work for many of them.

“Speaking personally, I am incredibly proud seeing their work on display in such an imposing location.

“The Royal Cornwall Museum is a hugely popular and important facility for artists in and around the Duchy – I am very grateful to them for giving us this opportunity.”

Among the students who are showcasing their work is Rose Herman, who based her work on the museum’s 1915 image of the Royal Cornwall Infirmary.

Rose said: “This picture inspired me to look at our own place in History and this pandemic. I initially wanted to pay homage to Treliske hospital, but because of covid restrictions it was impossible to take photos in or near the hospital so I chose to cover the pandemics impact on our everyday lives and environment.

“The masks which are now commonplace for every one of us signifying our constant vigilance outside of medical facilities as well as inside them and worn as a way of protecting ourselves and each other. How quickly we have assimilated them into our society.”

Fellow student Lilly Hall added: “The artworks that I have produced for this project are all related to my sense of place within an old mining community. They are a series of paintings based around the area of Baldhu.

“The paintings all depict a sunset and as the viewer glances at the pieces from left to right it is as if the sun is setting.

“I wanted to represent a hidden beauty that local people understand, from the dreamlike headframe, which no longer exists at the mine, to the ominous angles that stand at Baldhu Churchyard.”

Cornwall College Camborne is part of The Cornwall College Group, which is seeing record application figures for its courses next year and is continuing to invest in student experience and facilities across its Devon and Cornwall campuses.