Tate St Ives invites local community to play their part in plans to reimagine the Palais de Danse

On 28 and 29 June 2024, Tate St Ives is sharing an open invitation to local residents, businesses and any interested parties to attend one of their free Public Consultation events to discuss the transformation of the Palais De Danse.

Visitors are invited to come along to discuss the updated plans with Adam Khan Architects and Tate curators, and to share their thoughts and questions on the future of the historic building ahead of Tate submitting its planning application in Summer 2024.

The events follow previous Open Day engagement activities held at the Palais de Danse back in April 2024, which aimed to share initial ideas about how Tate plans to uncover the building’s rich history, whilst shaping its exciting future as a creative space for the community.

The series of drop-in sessions will take place in the courtyard of the Palais de Danse, where light refreshments will be served. 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.

Due to limited capacity within the building, visitors will need to pre-book their free ticket to attend by visiting the website, calling 01736 796 226 or by visiting.stives@tate.org.uk.

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Notes

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 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.

Listings information
Palais de Danse Public Consultation
Friday 28 June 2024 14:00 – 17:00 and Saturday 29 June 2024 10:00 – 13:00
Palais de Danse, Barnoon Hill, St Ives, TR26 1AD
Free tickets available online and by calling 01736 796 226.
Due to limited capacity, booking is essential with priority for local residents.

About the Palais De Danse
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.

About Tate St Ives and the Barbara 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.

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. Find out more.

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. Find out more.