As part of the museum’s ongoing transformation, this March sees the launch of our impressive new Art Gallery. For the first time in many years, we’ll be able to showcase the riches of the Royal Institution of Cornwall’s art collection, giving Truro the art gallery it deserves.  

The museum was founded in 1818 by the Royal Institution of Cornwall. Collecting, caring for, and displaying works of art has always been a central part of the museum’s mission, and at various times in its history it has been known as an art gallery as well as a museum. The new Art Gallery therefore sees us returning to our roots, and for us it’s one of the most exciting aspects of our whole transformation.  

We’re putting the huge walls of the balcony, which overlooks the new Heart of Cornwall Gallery, to the best possible use. Our curators are busy planning a ‘salon hang’ which means works will be displayed virtually from floor to ceiling.  

There are over 500 works in the museum’s stores dating from the 1300s to the present day. They include works from the German and Italian renaissances, English history and landscape paintings, the Pre-Raphaelite school, the Newlyn School, and St Ives modernism.    

Works will be grouped together thematically or by movement, inviting connections across space and time. It will also prompt visitors to make connections with historical objects elsewhere in the museum, setting up fresh conversations that everyone from school children to academic researchers can take part in. 

The collection was established for philanthropic purposes, at a time when education was a privilege rather than a right. People who lived in Cornwall couldn’t necessarily afford to travel to London to see exhibitions at the Royal Academy or the National Gallery, and the founders of the Royal Institution of Cornwall wanted to enable cultural experiences for all – something which remains a cornerstone of our mission today.  

However, it does mean that the collection grew from the interests and tastes of a narrow section of society; namely wealthy white men. Both the artists themselves and their subjects follow this pattern, and we’re painfully aware that women, ethnic minorities, and LGBTQ+ people are chronically underrepresented on these walls. This is something we will be straining to redress in the coming years.  

This stage of the museum’s transformation has been made possible thanks to funding from the UK Shared Prosperity Fund delivered via Cornwall Council, Truro Town Deal & Arts Council England.