Penlee House Wins Exhibition of the Year – But the Real Story Will Make You Look Twice at Cornwall’s Landscape

Award recognises striking exhibition revealing 150 years of environmental change

Penlee House Gallery & Museum in Penzance has been awarded ‘Exhibition of the Year (larger venues)’ at the Cornwall Heritage Awards, hosted by Cornwall Council.

The winning exhibition, Flora: 150 Years of Environmental Change in Cornwall, was curated by West Cornwall-based artist and environmentalist Kurt Jackson, and ran from October 2024 to January 2025.

A Closer Look at Cornwall’s Changing Flora

Flora was a collaboration between Kurt and Penlee House, drawing from the Gallery’s own collection and historic Newlyn School paintings. Kurt identified artworks where flora and plant life were visible, tracked down the original locations painted over a century ago, and created new works from those same spots.

The result was a powerful side-by-side comparison of past and present – showing how Cornwall’s landscape has changed dramatically due to farming methods, garden waste disposal and global warming.

The exhibition featured 70 works in total, with 27 created by Kurt. Each section focused on different types of flora, from seaweed to mosses, showing both environmental damage and areas where nature has managed to survive.

📷Pictured are Technical Officer Richard Nesham, Administration Officer Sandra Paternotte, Deputy Director / Curator Katie Herbert, Marketing Assistant Maisy-Sky Lumbers, Learning Officer Zoe Burkett, and Director Penlee House Gallery & Museum Verity Anthony. Penlee House Gallery & Museum win ‘Exhibition of the Year’ at the Cornwall Heritage Awards. Photo by Penzance Council

Powerful Public Response

Kurt said:

“There has been amazing feedback for this exhibition both from the scientific community and the general public, so I suspected that it had gone down well! I am delighted that it has been recognised with this award; not just for myself but also for everyone else who worked alongside me.

“This project reflects my passion and concerns for the environment and the natural world, this is what underpins and informs my own practice. The agenda of how the natural world is faring needs to be given far more prominence and I am glad this exhibition has attracted so much attention and therefore played an important role in this process.

“I would like to thank Caroline Jackson, Zinzi and Fynn Tucker for assisting in the curatorial backup as well as the team at Penlee House and all those Cornish botanists and scientists that advised me.”

Volunteer Tour Guides Also Celebrated

Penlee House’s team of six volunteer Tour Guides were also Highly Commended in the ‘Heritage Heroes’ category. These guides research, write and deliver free public tours of temporary exhibitions, helping visitors understand the artworks on a deeper level.

Environmental Focus Continues

Penlee House, owned and operated by Penzance Council, says it remains committed to raising awareness of environmental issues. Its current exhibition, The Shape of Things: Our Place in a Changing Climate, continues this important work, offering a community-curated display that re-examines historic pieces through the lens of climate change.

For more information about Penlee House and its exhibitions, visit www.penleehouse.org.uk.

📷Penlee House Gallery & Museum win ‘Exhibition of the Year’ at the Cornwall Heritage Awards. Photo by Penzance Council