Tate St Ives

St Ives has a rich history of art and culture which is still vibrant in the town today.  Explore the numerous art galleries dotted amongst the meandering lanes, perhaps pop into one of the life drawing classes or just bask in the unique light that originally attracted so many artists to St Ives.  The towns reputation for attracting artists is so prolific that the British institution Tate chose St Ives for its third sight in 1993, and ever since the gallery has been championing St Ives’s relationship with art and artists.

The Sail Lofts luxury holiday accommodation in St Ives is just a five minute walk from the Tate St Ives and as a guest with us you receive complimentary entry to the gallery and Barbara Hepworth Garden and museum, and also receive 10% discount at the shop and café.

The Tate is currently undergoing a major expansion project to transform existing spaces and create new areas for displaying more artwork, allowing visitors to engage more deeply with art. The new gallery will be able to accommodate larger scale artworks and installations and give visitors a more relaxing and social visit.  To see the work planned please follow the link below:

http://www.tate.org.uk/about/projects/tate-st-ives-project

As a consequence of this work the gallery is temporarily closed from October 2015 until May 2016 but the Hepworth Gardens will remain open as normal and in the meantime the Tate St Ives is working in collaboration with the Newlyn Art Gallery and The Exchange Penzance. So if you wanted to explore beyond your 5 star accommodation in St Ives, a trip to the gallery is a great day out!

Situated in the historic fishing village of Newlyn, which is home to a fleet of 40 strong fishing vessels, the gallery is currently hosting a collaborative exhibition with Tate St Ives of modern British painter Sir Terry Frost. The collection of Frosts work includes paintings, collages and sculptural forms from his 60 year career. The exhibition runs until 9^th January 2016 and for more information please follow the link below:

http://newlynartgallery.co.uk/

For more ideas for things to do in Newlyn watch this space!

Abi x

An artistic view of St Ives...

St Ives is renowned for its rich art history with the breathtaking scenery and quality of light attracting artists since the 1880’s. The arrival of the railway in 1877 meant that artists could travel to and from London with ease, changing the town forever. In 1890 the St Ives Art Club was established and despite it’s bracing position on the sea front facing many a Cornish storm it’s still going strong 125 years later. Next time you’re on your luxury self-catering holiday at The Sail Lofts why not explore some of the amazing and diverse galleries we have here in St Ives? Here are just a few.

Porthminster Gallery

Beautifully situated right on the harbour and opposite the St Ives Art Club, this commercial gallery was recently voted the ‘Best Art Gallery in Cornwall’ by Cornwall Today. It’s only an eight minute walk from our luxury accommodation so if you’re feeling inspired this is the perfect place to pick up some Contemporary Fine Art from some of Britain’s leading artists. 

Tate St Ives

You can’t fail to spot Tate St Ives if you’re walking along Porthmeor beach with its striking architecture and prominent position, it’s definitely worth a visit. Only a five minutes walk from The Sail Lofts apartments, St Ives’s most famous gallery features an eclectic mix of modern British artists. ‘Images Moving Out Onto Space’ is a new exhibition focusing on works of art that are set in motion featuring eight different artists spanning almost 50 years. With it’s use of light, colour and movement it will definitely interest those looking for something new and engaging. Finish your visit with a coffee in the Tate café, to soak up those sea views.

 

Barbara Hepworth Museum and Sculpture Garden

Barbara Hepworth was one of Britain’s most important and influential twentieth century artists. Hepworth first came to Cornwall along with her family when the war broke out in 1939. She lived and worked in Trewyn Studios until her death, when it was turned into a museum upon her request. Managed by the Tate Gallery the Barbara Hepworth Museum and Sculpture Garden offers a unique insight in her work. The sculptures are best viewed on a sunny day with the garden providing a beautiful contrast between nature and the man made.

Better still, guests of our holiday cottages get free entry to the Tate St Ives and the Barbara Hepworth Museum and Sculpture Garden. You’ll find a card in your welcome letter, but if you lose it, don’t worry! Just contact our concierge services and we will be happy to get you another one. 

Onna x 

Bank Holiday Weekend

August's bank holiday is around the corner, with some sun forecast and even a bit of surf we are all looking forward to a long weekend. 

Tate St Ives are hosting their summer BBQ this Friday to kick the weekend off, if the weather behaves itself it should be a lovely evening watching the sunset. Booking is recommended, phone 01736 796226. 

If the Tate isn't what you are looking for how about St Ives Harbour Raft Race, all in aid of charity this is bound to be a laugh. For details of how to enter please email stivespilotgigclub@yahoo.co.uk. 

St Ives has a whole host of live music this weekend as well, from blues to the Summer Concert featuring some great local talent. 

If you are still struggling to find somewhere to stay, we have one property available, 5 Bethesda Place, which we have reduced to £1529 for the week.   

Websites

We are busy working with our web designer to produce a brand new website for launch at the beginning of June. Lots of new features and hopefully much simpler design, for those following the blog they will need to wave good bye to the current url in a couple of weeks. I'll keep you posted of when this happens. 


The Tate has opened the doors to their new summer exhibitions, Lily van der Stokker- No Big Deal Thing and Object:Gesture:Grid- St Ives and the international Avant-garde. Guests of The Sail Lofts receive 50% discount so if you are staying with us don't forget to pop into the office to borrow a Tate Corporate members card!


St Ives food and drink festival is also progressing with some interesting events already lined up, see their website for more details.

We only have very limited availability in the summer now, so please do contact us sooner rather than later to avoid disappointment. We are also booking up very quickly for the September festival week, its always a great week! 

A New Cottage

We've been very busy down here at The Sail Lofts, with the preparations for Five Bethesda Place (our new holiday cottage in St Ives) rapidly underway and thankfully all on schedule thanks to Dave. The new cottage is looking great and it seems like we are having deliveries everyday for it, getting ready for its first guests in a couple of weeks.

I found this rather novel the other day when in Falmouth, I had breakfast on Princes Pier at the cafe, and as it was warm and sunny we sat outside. When the breakfast came along the waitress brought a water pistol toscare off the sea gulls, brilliant idea! 

The surf has been good over the last week with a new swell arriving on St Patricks day and we still have waves today. I've also noticed in the past week that it is warm enough to drop the gloves, as the air temperature rises and the water temperature seems to as well. The forecast for the next week is looking OK as well if one can find some shelter from the forecasted Westerlies. 

For all those who live in Cornwall don't forget there is only a week left of free entry at Tate St Ives. 

We are really busy for the next 3 weeks with no availability at all, but if you would like a break in April then give the office a call and see if we can arrange the perfect break in St Ives for you.

A mixed bag

Cornwall seems to be having a fairly busy weekend approaching with lots going on. For the art enthusiasts, Late at the Tate is an opportunity to view the gallery for free every last Friday of the month. For those who can make it, this is on tonight featuring the Dexter Dalwood exhibition. 

Good news for all Cornish residents is the Tate St Ives is offering free entry throughout March, just ring along proof of residence. Has to be worth a trip to St Ives to take this up especially as we have been told it is a really good exhibition. If you do then drop by and say hello to us at The Sail Lofts.

Work is continuing on our new addition in St Ives, a traditional fisherman's cottage which is being modernised to our high standards. The workmen are doing a great job of pulling this project together and we look forward to posting some pictures of the new property on this blog. 

We are progressing with our new venture which we are extremely excited about, word seems to be working its way around town but watch this space for the full details. 

We will hopefully be getting a newsletter out next week, if you aren't already signed up make sure you do here. 

Its been a varied week for surf, with the North coast seeing perfection on Wednesday, and the South coast has remained surprisingly consistent. With a mixed bag of winds it is going to be difficult to predict the surf over the weekend but I'm hoping one of the coasts will have a wave. Don't forget to check out our twitter account for the latest surf in St Ives. Next week isn't looking too promising so it could be worth making the most of any swell this weekend even if the wind is on it.


As usual we have a couple of cracking deals for last minute stays in our wonderful apartments in St Ives.