A NEW art school which is set to contribute to Newlyn's proud artistic heritage is opening after several years of hard work by its founder and director, local artist Henry Garfit.The school will draw on the talents and experience of 15 local artists, including Neil Pinkett, Jason Walker, Jesse Leroy Smith, Jane Ansell, Mary Crockett, Mark Spray and Paul Wadsworth, and will host short courses in oil painting, printmaking, drawing, stone carving, professional development and art history.
Newlyn School of Art, which will be based at the Old Board School, Chywoone Hill, is the creation of Mr Garfit, an artist who has worked in the area for eight years and the man behind the community of 15 art studios at Trewidden Garden, opened in 2008.
Mr Garfit says that he is "delighted that after several years of development work the school is now in a position to start taking bookings".
"The project was awarded a £30,000 Arts Council grant through Grants for the Arts, which is Lottery funded; the highest sum available to an application of this type.
"The funding has helped towards some of the equipment set-up costs but has not covered all the costs and so I have had to beg and borrow from friends and family to get the remaining funds we needed to start up the school."
"The school is a privately run, not-for-profit organisation with all surplus funds being ploughed back into buying new equipment and expanding the resources and facilities of the school.
"We received valuable business advice from Bryn Hackland, enterprise facilitator at Cornwall Development Company who has helped us make vital links with many local businesses.
"The school will offer a great deal to the local arts community with year-round access to high quality facilities and much needed part-time employment for artists to supplement their earnings.
"We also aim to cater to the many annual visitors to West Cornwall who come to the area because of its long-standing reputation for art."
Mr Garfit explained why Newlyn School of Art was chosen as the name for the school. "A fact which isn't known to everyone is that the well known art school in Newlyn was called the Forbes School of Painting and the term 'The Newlyn School' refers, in fact, specifically to the group of painters who were based here from the mid 1880s onwards," he added.
"The daughters of Billy Stevenson who own the building have been extremely supportive of the project and are also making efforts to find a permanent year-round public exhibition space for their father's extensive collection of Newlyn fishing memorabilia."
"I have had so many local people tell me proudly that they attended the Board School and we hope that the local community will feel able to use the school again."
Mr Garfit will be working closely with Penlee House Gallery & Museum, Newlyn Art Gallery and Tate St Ives to provide art history courses for the school as well as Newlyn Art Gallery and The Exchange to provide year-round professional development.
Penlee Gallery, director, Alison Bevan, said she was delighted that the school was opening: "Penlee House Gallery has long seen the potential for the success of such a present day art school."
The first course – Oil Painting, by tutor Neil Pinkett – starts on September 14.
The school's website – http://www.newlynartschool.co.uk – is now live and a course discount is now available.