The history of the campaign for and the building of The Tate Gallery in St. Ives from early plans in 1988 to the day the gallery opened in June 1993 The story begins at the end of the First World War when the town first had the idea of creating an art gallery to commemorate the men who had died in the war.
It continues with various other unsuccessful attempts to provide a permanent home for St. Ives art, and then the impetus that was needed to raise the projects profile follow up the St. Ives exhibition at the Tate Gallery in London in 1985. One of the central chapters covers the history of the land at Porthmeor on which the gallery was built from 1835 when plans were made to provide the town with gas lighting. The book also details the public concerns that were raised during the gallery’s development. The book is copiously illustrated in both black and white and colour, and has a detailed bibliography, a list of funding bodies and names of those who were connected with the extraordinary campaign to secure the gallery for the town.
Janet Axten was born in London and moved to St. Ives from Birmingham in 1985. She obtained a First Class Honours Degree in the arts with the Open University and was the coordinator of the St. Ives Tate Action Group which raised £135,00 towards the building of Tate St. Ives which opened in 1993. Her close involvement with the planning of the Tate St. Ives and her association with all those who played a part in its development enabled her to write in depth about the gallery in its wider geographical and historical context.
PUBLISHED BY Janet Axten and Colin Orchard, 1995. 24cm. x 30cm. 240 pages Paperback
