women of cornwall
katie bunnell
Women of Cornwall, in collaboration with ceramic artist Katie Bunnell, will create a new collection of 50 plates highlighting and celebrating significant women of Cornwall.
The plates will become a permanent collection at Art Centre Penryn.
The public call out
The first phase of the project invited the public to suggest women to feature on a plate. We were looking for women who have made meaningful contributions to the region in a broad range of areas:
visual arts • sciences • engineering • literature • environment • farming • fishing • health • sport • social care • community & voluntary action • maritime • hospitality • education • performing arts • business and enterprise • media • leadership • politics
Discovering women not yet recognised for their achievements was particularly important to us, with no achievement being too small. The deadline for suggestions was 30 Nov 2024.
The suggested women
We were thrilled to receive 321 public suggestions for 230+ women. Thank you to everyone who contributed to this phase of the project.
See all the suggested women here:
portrait workshops
We held creative portrait making workshops across the county to spread the word about the project and gather and exchange stories of inspirational women.
Over 60 people took part in workshops in Penryn, Falmouth, Redruth, Bodmin, Lostwithiel and Penzance.
Reporter Charlotte Gay from ITV Westcountry joined us at one of the creative workshop’s at the Princess Pavilion, Falmouth to learn more about the project, watch her feature above.
women of cornwall
the exhibition
28 MAR – 26 APR 2025
THU – SAT / 10-4
The Parlour, Art Centre Penryn
The Women of Cornwall exhibition presents all of the 234 women who were nominated in the public call-out and highlights and celebrates their fantastically varied achievements.
The showcased women come from history, myth and contemporary life, and span a wide range of careers, activism and volunteering roles. Including a steam ship company director, footballer, Master fishmonger, artists, carers, surfers, scientists and many more...
The exhibition invites you to be inspired by the many stories they tell.
Portraits made in the public workshops as well as a short documentary film by Ruby Ingleheart also feature.
The Women of Cornwall exhibition is presented in a newly refurbished space at Art Centre Penryn: the Parlour.
The Parlour has been refurbished using funding allocated from Cornwall Council’s Community Levelling Up Programme, part of the Good Growth Programme, which is delivering the UK Shared Prosperity Fund in Cornwall and Isles of Scilly.
Next Steps
Selecting just 50 of all the amazing women from the suggestions isn’t going to be easy.
The advisory group that includes representatives from Kresen Kernow, The Hypatia Trust, Access Cornwall and Black Voices Cornwall, will work together to select the final 50 women.
The intention is to capture a diverse and inspirational group of women. This will be a snapshot of what people have said they value now, in the 21st Century, rather than a ‘top 50’.
We will announce the 50 women who will feature on the plates in Spring 2025.
We will then work with a group of artists to design and make the plates for the new permanent art collection for Art Centre Penryn.
Keep up to date with the project here and on Instagram: @womenofcornwall
Women of Cornwall is made possible with funding from The National Lottery Heritage Fund. This project is also part-funded by the UK Government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund.