We are proud to announce that we have donated £1000 to St Ives Museum, to support the future of this unique local museum.
Situated by the water’s edge, St Ives Museum has a fascinating history dating back to the early 1900s. A dedicated group of locals, led by Robert Nance, wished to preserve the history of the town and formed the St Ives Old Cornwall Society. The society began collecting items of interest in a bid to conserve them for future generations, following their motto: ‘Gather ye the fragments that are left, that nothing be lost’. And so, a collection slowly formed over time, creating a museum highlighting the town’s history. Several decades (and premises) later, the museum has become an integral part of St Ives.
Today, Curator Andy Smith and the Museum Management team are working towards the long-term aim of becoming Arts Council UK accredited. Achieving this aim will require a great deal of time, costs, and the support of around 50 - 60 volunteers. Initially, the team must digitalise the entire collection, a mammoth task! Alongside recording thousands of exhibits, they also want to introduce new technologies to enhance customer experience, including an app to guide visitors through the museum. As a prerequisite for these plans, public WiFi had to be installed; the money donated by Aspects Holidays paid for the installation of this critical element.
We were kindly invited to attend the launch event, showcasing the fantastic new exhibition for 2023, ‘Discovering St Ives: An Exhibition of work by Early Visiting Artists 1830-1890’. PR and Marketing Executive, Jenna Ali, and Holiday Coordinator, Kimberly Kellard, were delighted to attend the event, which had a fantastic turnout. The evening marked the start of the 2023 season, with an introduction from Curator Andy Smith, and a talk by Cornish art historian, David Tovey.
Commercial Director for Aspects Holidays, Mandy Spencer, commented: “The museum has been a part of St Ives for so long, and for me personally, I have fond memories of wandering around it as a small child, spellbound by some of the unusual and interesting exhibits. With such a long history, I am honoured to be able to help keep this historic attraction alive for many more generations to enjoy.”
St Ives Museum Curator, Andy Smith, expressed his appreciation: “I am delighted that through the efforts of a wonderful team of volunteers we are able to bring home to St.Ives such a very special collection of early paintings of the town. I would like to thank Aspects Holidays for their fantastic support in helping towards the cost of our new public WiFi system which in turn will enable visitors to the Museum to access the Bloomberg Connects App to provide a greatly enhanced visitor experience when it comes online during 2023."
If you’d like to visit the museum to see the fantastic exhibitions and artefacts yourself, simply pop along and pay the very reasonable £5 entrance fee, which keeps the museum going.