Always on
This project successfully funded on 7th August 2026, you can still support them with a donation.
This project successfully funded on 7th August 2026, you can still support them with a donation.
Now Listed as Asset of Community Value we have 6 months to raise the £450k valuation & stop Penzance School of Art being sold to developers.
🏛️ Save Penzance School of Art: Our Renaissance
Update: Protecting a Vital Space for Our Community
In April 2025, severe funding cuts across the education sector led to the sudden decision to sell these historic buildings. This sale threatened to lock out the public and hand a community landmark over to private developers. justlife.art CIC stepped in to stop this loss. Our mission is to ensure these spaces stay exactly what they were always meant to be: accessible, working spaces for creative practice, learning, and connection.
The vendors, Truro and Penwith College, originally gave us a very tight window to raise the £450,000 asking price. To protect our community's right to this space, we nominated the Penzance School of Art buildings as an Asset of Community Value (ACV). On 19th August, Cornwall Council officially granted this status. This vital win gives our community a six-month extension, stopping any open-market sale.
Now, we need your help to secure the future of these buildings. Our plan relies on an initial community-funded acquisition, ensuring local people hold the ownership. Together, we will restore the Art School, Library, and Science School as inclusive, welcoming spaces for everyone today, and for all generations to come.
✨ A Creative Sanctuary: 170 Years in the Making
We are building a modern succession to a tradition of fine art excellence that began in 1853. As the first art school west of Bristol, these halls have long served as a haven where people from all backgrounds could find their voice:
🎨 Reclaiming the Legacy: A Space for Everyone
At justlife.art CIC, we are expanding our community-led Art School to provide high-calibre courses for everymember of the community. Established in 2022, our organisation is proudly lived-experience led.
We know how deeply isolating it is to feel marginalised or left behind. But the glass ceiling is breaking. In 2025, a non-verbal autistic woman won the Turner Prize because her work is breathtakingly fantastic—not as a token gesture, but on pure merit.
Talent is everywhere, but barriers are too. We want everyone to have access to amazing tuition, warm facilitation, and true community connection.
🖌️ Expert Mentorship & Professional Growth
True artistic excellence belongs to everyone. Our school is led by an exceptional faculty of practicing artists at the top of their field, including members of the Royal Society of Portrait Painters. We provide a deep, supportive pathway for your creative journey:
🤝 Help Us Secure the Future
Time is short, and we need you to help us hold the key. Every donation returns these buildings to their true community purpose.
Our Promise & Transparency:
We have chosen Crowdfunder's "Keep What We Raise" option. We are actively blending this campaign with applications for grant funding and conversations with major private donors.
Your donation is safe. We promise to refund all money raised if, for any reason, the acquisition cannot go ahead. Crowdfunder offers direct refund pathways. Alternatively, if you prefer to donate via BACS transfer, we can provide a legally binding letter guaranteeing your money back if the sale does not go through.
Please donate now and Save Penzance School of Art.
Funding method
Keep what you raise – this project will receive all pledges made