Tate St Ives — Attraction in Great Britain

A scenic and calm space to enjoy modern art on your day out in St Ives. It's a chill distraction from the busy tourist magnet that is the town, but also an enjoyable building to explore and absorb the various galleries of work by many different local and global artists.

Booking is easy to do online and is recommended to be done in advance. Once you're inside, it's a typical contemporary white-walled setting which can be perceived as being sterile but it works fine here. There were plenty of colourful paintings and displays that were mostly abstract or themed based on certain ideals and subject matter, such as modern spirituality and regional or community importance.

The best exhibition here at summer 2023 was by the Casablanca Art School, which featured works by artists highlighting the artistic rebirth following Moroccan independence. Also, Barbara Hepworth, Partou Zia, Hera Büyüktaşcıyan and more. You'll find diversity, historical significance and stories expressed in the art.

It features a lot of Cornwall-related and Cornish inspired art that echoes the local community and landscape - as well as lands away from the UK.

Many people who have visited Tate Modern in London will check this out of curiosity and familiarity, and while it's an enjoyable visit, it's definitely not the same in scale or as rich in quality. In comparison to other Tate buildings and museums in general, it certainly doesn't stand out in a major way. That's a subjective thing anyway.

There's a great view of the beach and coastline from a seating area with massive windows. A nice cafe is inside too for a quick snack with a view before you press on.

There isn't a dedicated car park but parking is easily available nearby in the form of; Porthmeor beach car park, Barnoon long stay car park (5 minute walk). As with a lot of St Ives roads, there's rarely any disabled parking spots for blue-badge...

Having visited the Tate St Ives a few times over the years, from school trips back in the day to returning once in a while in later years, we have seen some different exhibitions and works of art along the way.

The artwork at the Tate St Ives is modern and particularly abstract. There is a balanced mix of themes throughout and Cornish inspired art. Alfred Wallis’ work and story was captivating.

We find the art here does at times divide opinions and to be honest, much of the artwork did not appeal to us and left us wondering “seriously, I could do better than that”. But, that is probably what that particular artist was trying to achieve - debate or to provoke. This said, there were several pieces that did interest our imagination and thoughts.

If anything, if the art work at the time of visiting doesn’t impress, the beautiful calm and clean white curves of the building with its stunning panoramic views over Porthmeor Beach certainly will. The colourful curved ‘Wall Drawing’ by the American artist Sol LeWitt was our favourite because of its vast colourful vibrancy. We had some camera fun with this one!

The tickets here are reasonably priced, and you get a free return within the year. Being local, we also got a discount - sweet!

The Tate St Ives does not have any parking facilities, but there is a couple of Cornwall Council car parks within walking distance. Link to car parks below.

There is always a great chilled out vibe about this place, great activities for children that keeps them well occupied, the staff are very helpful and friendly, and it is generally a great place to enjoy.

We visited back in July, but any time of year is a great time to visit this Tate.

Whether you are into art or not, we would totally recommend this...

A thoroughly magical and out of this world art gallery situated in the South West of England with a picture book style of a coastal location. The gallery is housed in a superb art deco style building with outstanding views out to sea giving you sense making it a perfect coastal paradise to visit such a place. The gallery houses a variety of art exhibitions and there are many stunning and sensational artworks ranging from normal portraits to abstract paintings and sculpture art/ sculptures and these blend in very well with their settings making the displays all the more powerful and enthralling. Three of the main artists that feature are Alfred Wallis who does some absolutely amazing breathtaking inspired portraits of St Ives and Cornwall, Marlow Moss who does some thoroughly innovative and captivated abstract paintings and Liliane Lijn who has a range of wonderful artwork ranging from portrait paintings and sculptures but also some innovative ideas with artwork involving amazing which are mystical and magical on the eye. There are a number of displays to see and these include Modern Landscapes, Modern Bodies, Modern Spirituality and Modern Forms where you can literally truly outstanding out of this world paintings and sculptures which are absolutely some of the best around. You can also enjoy wonderful breathtaking views of the sea which adds to the tranquility of this location and helps you fee more tranquil, calm and relaxed along with being at ease. There is a cafe selling a range of food and drink at reasonable prices amd a gift shop selling a nice range of souvenirs at very reasonable and affordable prices. Overall this is a truly magical and out of this world place to visit. Definitely well worth a visit...