Barbara Hepworth working in the Palais on the prototype for Single Form for the United Nations. January 1961. Photograph by Studio St Ives. Barbara Hepworth © Bowness
- First public drop-in sessions this month offer the chance to discuss initial refurbishment plans for the Palais de Danse with Tate St Ives curators and Adam Khan Architects.
- An opportunity to peek inside the Palais’s celebrated dancehall and discover the full breadth of Barbara Hepworth’s life and work in St Ives.
- Tate St Ives is inviting local residents to share their own memories of visiting the Palais de Danse from 1940-1960.
On 26 and 27 April 2024, Tate St Ives will be opening the doors to Barbara Hepworth’s former studio - the Palais de Danse - for the first time in almost 50 years. Ahead of a major project to renovate this historic space, local residents are invited to drop in and hear more about plans to reimagine the building as a community-focused heritage site that continues to expand on Hepworth’s extraordinary legacy.
Constructed on the site of an old naval school, the Palais de Danse is one of the most unique spaces in the heart of St Ives. Formerly a cinema and dance hall, the Palais was also an important hub for community events during the Second World War and beyond. The building was bought by Barbara Hepworth in 1961 to use as her second studio. This gave her the space to create larger and more complex sculptures, including the monumental Single Form (1961-4) commissioned for the United Nations in New York. Located directly opposite Trewyn Studio - now the Barbara Hepworth Museum and Sculpture Garden - the Palais was gifted to Tate by the Hepworth Estate in 2015 and was awarded Grade II listed status in 2020. Together, these buildings housed the entire scope of Hepworth's creative work from 1949-1975.
The Palais de Danse is both deeply rooted in community memory and central to Hepworth's artistic legacy worldwide. Having remained untouched since Hepworth’s death in 1975, Tate St Ives is now embarking on a major capital project to renovate this significant building with Adam Khan Architects. The project will uncover the Palais’s rich history, realise its immense potential for the community and continue its story by securing the building for the long term.
Over two days this month, the St Ives community is invited to take a special look at the Palais de Danse, discuss early ideas with the architects and curators, and hear more about the process and future plans that will shape the building’s exciting future as a creative space for local residents to use and enjoy. Visitors will be invited to tour the building’s celebrated dancehall and to share memories and photographs of the Palais from the 1940s, 50s, 60s and beyond. Tate St Ives will also be offering tours of the neighbouring Barbara Hepworth Museum and Sculpture Garden, providing the chance to explore the full breadth of Hepworth’s life and work in St Ives.
Tate St Ives has been awarded development funding towards the transformation of the Palais de Danse from The National Lottery Heritage Fund, made possible by National Lottery players.
The project to transform the Palais de Danse has also received support from a number of trusts, foundations and individuals, including The Headley Trust, The Bowness Family, The Hepworth Estate, The Porthmeor Fund, and The Bridget Riley Art Foundation.
For more information on the Palais de Danse, please email gemma.ambrose@tate.org.uk or call 01736 796226. A selection of archival imagery of Barbara Hepworth at the Palais de Danse is available to download from Tate’s dropbox: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/73jdtgo32pelafy1nkded/ADc5zDPHQ-zpoWoQjnCbci4?rlkey=loujn2t8emnl79vhnsuv3f12j&dl=0
Listings information:
Palais de Danse Community Open Days
Friday 26 April 2024 14:00 – 17:00 and Saturday 27 April 2024 10:00 – 13:00
Palais de Danse, Barnoon Hill, St Ives, TR26 1AD
Free ticket avaliable at https://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-st-ives/palais-open-days and 01736 796 226
Due to limited capacity, booking is essential with priority for local residents
About Tate St Ives and The Barabara Hepworth Museum and Sculpture Garden
Opened in 1993 and expanded in 2017, Tate St Ives explores the area’s unique role in the story of modern art, provides a platform for cutting-edge contemporary artists from around the world, and runs a programme of events and projects developed for and with the town of St Ives. It also manages the Barbara Hepworth Museum and Sculpture Garden, and is the only Tate gallery to have a dedicated Artist Residency programme. Tate St Ives was awarded Art Fund Museum of the Year 2018, the UK’s most prestigious museum award. Find out more at tate.org.uk/visit/tate-st-ives
About Adam Khan Architects
Adam Khan Architects have established a reputation for built work of sensitivity, elegance and refinement which addresses key issues of our time: social inclusion, sustainability and the vitality of civic spaces. A design methodology based on careful study of context, collaborative working methods and an active process of client and user engagement, is underpinned by a commitment to the social potential of architecture. Strategies for renewal include both renovation and new building, looking to uncover and amplify the latent potential in any found condition and capture the synergies of working at a wide range of scales – landscape, city, building and room. Visit www.adamkhan.co.uk
About the National Lottery Heritage Fund
As the largest dedicated funder of the UK’s heritage, The National Lottery Heritage Fund’s vision is for heritage to be valued, cared for and sustained for everyone, now and in the future as set out in the strategic plan, Heritage 2033. Over the next ten years, the Heritage Fund aims to invest £3.6billion raised for good causes by National Lottery players to bring about benefits for people, places and the natural environment.
The Heritage Fund helps protect, transform and share the things from the past that people care about, from popular museums and historic places, the natural environment and fragile species, to the languages and cultural traditions that celebrate who we are.
The Heritage Fund is passionate about heritage and committed to driving innovation and collaboration to make a positive difference to people’s lives today, while leaving a lasting legacy for future generations to enjoy. Follow @HeritageFundUK on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram and use #NationalLotteryHeritageFund. Visit www.heritagefund.org.uk.