Nine years ago to the day, since Michael and Hayley Jay opened The Great Atlantic Map Works Gallery in St Just-in-Penwith, Britain’s most westerly town, they have opened a "new" Great Atlantic Gallery in Falmouth.
While the gallery may well be a “new” addition to the three existing Great Atlantic Galleries, the building in which the art gallery is based is anything but new.
Formerly a home of the Fox family, 48 Arwenack Street, Falmouth can be dated back to the 1700’s. According to Charles Fox, a direct descendent of the family, the house was first occupied by his family around 1740. Just yards from the Custom House Quay and the King’s Pipe, where contraband tobacco was burnt, the Fox’s house has always been in a prime position in the bustling port of Falmouth.
Over the centuries the house has seen many uses, though improbably ever as an art gallery. From Easter Monday it will open to the public as a venue for exhibitions of work by leading artists from Cornwall and elsewhere. While many of the artists like Neil Pinkett, Robert Jones, Noel Betowski, Mary Stork, Gill Watkiss, Paul Mount, June Miles, Gary Long are well known and firmly established, others like John Brenton, Paul Evans, Simon Stooks, Neil Davies, Rachael Mia Allen are rapidly emerging and making their mark. In addition, the new gallery will provide a superb platform for promoting the work of recent graduates from Falmouth College of art like Alasdair Lindsay, Myles Oxenford, Anja Percival and Andrew Giddens.
“The opening of this wonderful space in the heart of Falmouth is a major step for The Great Atlantic group” says company director Michael Jay. Mike and his wife and co-director, Hayley have been working on this project for almost a year while the building has been completely renovated and re-furbished. “I have no doubt that 48 Arwenack Street will become a major venue for the visual arts in the south west within a short period” says Mike. “I mean, how many galleries can claim to have exhibition space that includes some very ancient brick arched wine racks, a vaulted strong room as well as a small cannon, complete with cannon ball that is said to date back to the Crimean War?” he goes on.
