Top Picks
Arty Autumn: 18 Exhibitions across Cornwall
As the season changes, take inspiration from the world around you, with a vast array of exhibitions taking place across Cornwall through the autumn months.
We’ve rounded up 18 exhibitions ranging from photography to sculpture, painting to history – there’s something for everybody to immerse themselves in this autumn.
You can find more exhibitions here.
1. Halima Cassell
Tate St Ives
Until Sun 27th September
Explore sculptural forms carved with intricate geometric patterns that play with light and shadow.
Halima Cassell uses clay, stone, wood, bronze and other materials to create works informed by architecture, mathematics and nature. Cassell works in a studio overlooking the Shropshire Hills. The natural world infuses her sculptures, from the shapes of pebbles and rock formations to the flow and ripple of water. Other works relate to the human body, suggesting fertility, birth and regeneration. Avoiding added colour, she picks a specific material for each work based on its natural hue and texture. Like St Ives artist Barbara Hepworth – a key influence for Cassell – she responds to the potential and limitations of each medium.
2. Aleksandra Kasuba
Tate St Ives
Until Sun 4th October
Explore the work of visionary Lithuanian American artist, Aleksandra Kasuba.
Kasuba fled Lithuania after the Second World War, emigrating to the United States where she settled in New York, and then New Mexico.
The exhibition spans six decades of work, exploring Kasuba’s artistic journey, from her early paintings and mosaics to her later sculptures and architectural designs. Her love of the natural world is clear throughout her work, which was often inspired by the shapes and forms of nature, such as shells, rocks, vegetation and marine life.
3. Blue Prints for the Loggia
Tate St Ives
Until Sun 4th October
Local students invite you to sit beneath the artwork they have created and listen to the sounds of the beach.
Suspended in the loggia at Tate St Ives’s entrance are three reproductions of large cyanotypes created on Porthmeor Beach by students from Hayle Academy, Cape Cornwall and St Ives School with Cornwall-based artist Peach Doble.
They gathered found objects on the beach and arranged them – and themselves – over photosensitive fabric. They then used the sun for exposure and the sea to develop the fabric, leaving covered areas white while the rest turned blue. The title references architectural blueprints, the earliest of which were made as cyanotypes in the 19th century. Just as blueprints are used to imagine spaces, the young people have made these works to reimagine Tate St Ives’s entrance area.
4. LIMINAL
Tremenheere Sculpture Gardens, Penzance
Wed 23rd September — Mon 5th October
A world in transition…
New paintings, ceramics and jewellery by 6 members of the Terramater art group. Join us at the wonderful Tremenheere Sculpture Gardens near Penzance to see new work concerned with enviromental change, and talk to the artists.
5. And Everything And Nothing Has Changed
Wheal Martyn, St Austell
Until Thu 8th October
An exhibition showcasing work by artist Robin James Sullivan.
And Everything And Nothing Has Changed celebrates Sullivan’s 2021 project of the same name. Exploring landscape, memory, industry and community through sculpture, performance and fieldwork, the exhibition will include the 2m ceramic standing stone co-created with over 450 local participants and the kiln that fired it beneath the iconic Sky Tip.
6. Building Trelissick Exhibition
National Trust Trelissick, Truro
Until Fri 16th October
Trelissick has evolved from a modest farmhouse into a distinguished riverside estate, shaped by the families who lived and worked here.
In a new exhibition in the West Library we explore the story of Trelissick house through the evolution of the building’s architecture.
7. Maxine Whitbread-Abrutat
Inspire Makers, Falmouth
Tue 22nd September — Sat 10th October
Maxine’s visual works combine a sensory experience through paint and mixed media, connecting and strongly capturing the colours and true intensity of the Cornish coastline and countryside.
Maxine Whitbread-Abrutat is a Cornish artist living on the wild, North Atlantic blue coastline in Rose, Perranporth who has been inspired from a young age by the beauty and draw of the Cornish landscape. It started with childhood holidays on Cornish beaches; even though she did not realise it at the time, these were to become a pivotal influence for her creative interest in and passion for landscapes, the sea, and social surroundings.
8. WEB OF LIFE
Yew Tree Gallery, Morvah
Until Fri 30th October
An exhibition illustrating the connectedness of all things through gilded paintings, sculpture, stained glass, ceramics, tapestry, jewellery.
9. Cornish Gold – Custodians of the Soil
Kestle Barton, Manaccan
Sat 12th September — Sat 31st October
A new body of photographic work by Joanne Coates, made during a year-long residency at Kestle Barton. Staring in November 2025, Coates has worked closely with flower farmers and pickers on Cornwall’s Lizard Peninsula, documenting the people whose labour shapes one of Cornwall’s most distinctive seasonal landscapes.
Through portraiture and documentary photography, Coates explores the relationship between people, land and agricultural labour, paying particular attention to the knowledge, care and resilience that sustain both landscape and livelihood. The photographs have developed through sustained conversations and time spent with people working across the local farming community, allowing Coates to consider contemporary rural life from within.
10. Cornish Myths & Legends
Cornwall Museum and Art Gallery, Truro
Until Sun 1st November
Step into a magical exhibition inspired by the old fireside stories of Cornish folk.
Designed for all ages, interactive moments include a story corner, potions cabinet and magical dressing-up box, while an accompanying events programme dives deeper into the Cornish otherworld.
Myths are woven into the Cornish landscape; they help shape the culture and sense of community in this proud and unique place. Legends have drawn visitors to Cornwall for centuries, connecting us to the past while changing over time to stay meaningful today. Folklore reminds us of what lasts — and why it matters.
11. Cornish Insects Exhibition
Trebah Garden, Mawnan Smith
Fri 2nd October — Sun 1st November
Marvel at the diversity of insect species which can be spotted around the Helford estuary in an exhibition of over 100 insect illustrations, created by collage artist and insect enthusiast Marian Hill (Buzz & Scuttle)
Learn how many insects provide vital environmental services including waste processing, soil improvement and pollination and become aware of simple ways in which we can protect and nurture these extraordinary creatures at all stages of development.
All Buzz & Scuttle insect illustrations are created by paper collage; tiny fragments of printed paper snipped from old magazines and photographs and pasted down with basic craft glue. Why not attend a half term workshop and create your own insect picture to take home!
12. Dark Cornwall
National Trust Trelissick, Truro
Sat 17th October — Sun 1st November
An exhibition of artworks to celebrate Kalan Gwav submitted by the Dark Cornwall community.
Visit the West Library where an exhibition of works submitted by the Dark Cornwall community will be on display throughout the Kalan Gwav celebrations. There’ll also be a chance to find out more about the installations on display throughout the garden and house and learn more about the creative process that brought them to life.
13. Angela Herbert-Hodges
Inspire Makers, Falmouth
Tue 20th October — Sat 21st November
Angela’s art reflects an abstracted vision of her connection to the environment around her in Cornwall.
Angela Herbert-Hodges paints because she just has to – creating art is a defining part of her existence.
She grew up in Cumbria, spending many dreamy holidays in the Scottish Highlands. Angela has travelled widely, and has lived and worked in London, Spain, and Paris working as a Cordon Bleu Chef and having a competitive fencing career. In 2021 Angela settled in Perranporth, Cornwall. Her work is influenced by these fascinating places and the interesting characters she has met along the way. She is deeply passionate about nature and has been struck by the distinctive Cornish landscape.
14. Arsenic: What Price Beauty?
Wheal Martyn, St Austell
Fri 16th October — Wed 23rd December
Terrye Teverson is a contemporary Cornish fine artist, digital printmaker and sculptor whose multidisciplinary practice bridges historical narrative and contemporary critique.
This exhibition investigates the arsenic trade in Cornwall, blending traditional and contemporary mediums to create immersive experiences that challenge viewers to confront the desire for ‘beautiful’ objects and contemplate the means of production.
15. Rebecca Walklett
Inspire Makers, Falmouth
Tue 24th November — Thu 24th December
A new body of metalwork from Rebecca that draws its influences from the wildness of Penwith.
It all started with a residency back in November 2023 and Rebecca keeps returning to draw and photograph the rocks. The lines, the colours and the wealth of variation keep her intrigued.
The work on display shows how she has explored transferring the elements of line, texture and colour to copper. She has moved away from 3D bowls for this show and the work is large textured platters and copper pieces mounted in frames.
16. Art Any Way
Cornwall Museum and Art Gallery, Truro
Mon 14th September — Sat 30th January
Art Any Way brings together work by artists who have found pure freedom of expression outside conventional norms, offering us fresh and exhilarating perspectives along the way.
From the unique coastal scenes of Alfred Wallis to the playful sculptures of David Kemp, Art Any Way features an eclectic range of artists who blur traditional boundaries and defy categorisation. The thing that unites them is their compulsion to create by any means, resulting in an exhibition full of intriguing stories of human ingenuity as well as exuberant art.
17. Kurt Jackson: The Cape
Jackson Foundation, St Just
Until Sat 27th February
For this latest body of work, world renowned contemporary artist Kurt Jackson returned to the subject of his formative years, Cape Cornwall.
To perch around the cove, above and on the other side of the Cape. He aimed to catch and capture this familiar landmark from every angle. To celebrate the different sides to life on this one small Cornish promontory. To try and see it with fresh eyes.
18. Wilhelmina Barns-Graham
Tate St Ives
Sat 24th October — Mon 3rd May
Enter the colourful world of Wilhelmina Barns-Graham, one of Britain’s most significant 20th century artists.
This major retrospective exhibition is the first to chart the full length of Barns-Graham’s incredible career, covering eight decades.
One of the most innovative British artists of the 20th century, Barns-Graham communicated her physical, emotional and spiritual responses to the world around her through her work. This was particularly true of her deep connection with the landscapes of Cornwall, Scotland and continental Europe. She carved out a vibrant style of abstract painting known for its energetic rhythms and bold colour.
