women of cornwall Advisory group

Art Centre Penryn and Katie Bunnell have put together an advisory group to help select the 50 women.
The 50 women will have their portrait commissioned on a porcelain plate by a recognised artist as part of a permanent collection for the Art Centre Penryn.

The panel will select from the total list of public suggestions gathered from the project to capture a snapshot in time of a diverse and inspirational selection of women rather than a definitive list.

Project Partners Kresen Kernow and Hypatia Trust have assisted to ensure the selection celebrates and highlights women, both historical, mythical and contemporary who have made a meaningful contribution to Cornwall.

abi Tahela

Co-Founder: Black Voices Cornwall

Black Voices Cornwall is a Charity striving for racial justice and equity. They are passionate about empowering the Global Majority Communities to succeed and thrive.

Black Voices Cornwall is also committed to enabling Cornwall to become an actively anti-racist region by encouraging local organisations to become more inclusive and celebrate diverse cultures.

“I am passionate about representation and intersectionality; I want to ensure this is encouraged and respected throughout being on the panel. It is also a delight to witness all these creative artworks created by Women of Cornwall.” 

blackvoicescornwall.org

ALICE howard

Interpretation and Participation Lead / Ledyer Styryans ha Kevrennans: Kresen Kernow

Kresen Kernow is Cornwall’s archive centre that holds the largest collection of documentation about the history of Cornwall, all made available to the public.

‘We are really excited about the Women of Cornwall project, as it is a great way to showcase the wonderful women of Cornish history. It is also fantastic to see women’s stories from our archives being brought to life.’

kresenkernow.org

ALICE MOUNT

Online Managing Editor: Hypatia Trust

The Hypatia Trust is a collaborative community hub advancing cross-platform women’s equality. 

Alice is the managing editor of womenincornwall.org, The Hypatia Trust’s online archive, dedicated to moving women from the margins of history to the centre. 
The Trust helps to celebrate and create visibility for individuals and other organisations as well as making available the Hypatia Library.   

”This project is a brilliant opportunity to come together to celebrate the diverse and lasting contribution women have made — and continue to make — to our region. It’s a pleasure to take part and hopefully bring to light some lesser known lives and stories”.

hypatia-trust.org.uk

FRAN KEENE

Independent Consultant |Chair - Citizens Advice Cornwall | Director - Cobb Riddle and Spall Musical Theatre | Member - Grant Committee, Cornwall Community Foundation

Fran has a wealth of leadership experience gained from working within civil society and public, cultural-creative and commercial sectors, nationally and locally. Her career has focused on organisational transformation through insight generation, technology and culture and her primary interest is working out how we can collectively reduce socio-economic inequality to create places where people and planet flourish.

The accurate representation of women from all walks of life and backgrounds, their stories, and their essential contributions to liveable society is central to Fran’s approach to equity, diversity and inclusion. 

It is this combination of interest, experience and insight she brings to the Women of Cornwall project, in helping better understand who we value and why in the contemporary context of a new collection of Art for a new Art Centre in Penryn.

Karen Pirie

Radio and podcast producer and creative storyteller

Through her work for BBC Radio 4 and a wide portfolio of podcasts, Karen has brought the life-stories of hundreds of people to wider audiences. She is particularly drawn to the extraordinary, untold stories of ordinary people – especially women. Karen launched the Cornwall Woman podcast in 2020 to raise the profiles of inspiring women in Cornwall who are living life their way. She also works in performing arts, focusing on bringing hidden voices into the light. 

“I’m delighted to be involved with Women of Cornwall and to help elevate the achievements and contributions of women from all walks of life through history and today.” 

https://cornwallwoman.libsyn.com/

KATIE BUNNELL

Ceramic Artist, Maker & Curator

Katie is leading the women of Cornwall project, with an enthusiasm to work with communities and the project partners to unearth the under-represented women with importance to the county. The second phase of the project will culminate in working with other artists and ceramicists to produce 50 plates as a new art collection for Art Centre Penryn.

As Associate Professor of Design at Falmouth University, Katie created Autonomatic, an award-winning craft research collective. She was Interim Director at the Leach Pottery, co-curator for Whitegold, an arts and regeneration project in St Austell and a director for Brickfield, a community brickworks based in a disused clay pit in Cornwall's clay country. 

“This is  such an exciting project to be working on. This first stage invites everyone to highlight important women in their lives and the response to this has been fantastic. It is really moving to read their stories as they emerge. The next challenge is to review people’s suggestions bearing in mind that our aim is to create an inspiring new art collection, shining a light on women’s contributions to Cornish culture across a broad spectrum of areas in history, myth and contemporary life.” 

katiebunnell.co.uk

MEGAN BECK

Founding Director: Art Centre Penryn

Art Centre Penryn is a new creative centre, a not-for-profit Community Interest Company connecting people to inspiring creative practice, and providing welcoming valuable experiences for all through a programme of exhibitions, community projects, courses, residencies and events.

Megan is an experienced creative producer and educator, with a particular interest in the ability of the arts to bring about positive change for people and places. Her expertise lies in co-delivering high-quality arts and community programmes. 

“We’re thrilled to be running this project to highlight women of Cornwall for any achievement, no matter how small. We invite everyone to take part and we really look forward to receiving the public’s suggestions and learning more about the women of Cornwall.”

artcentrepenryn.org

viki carpenter

Founding Director: Access Cornwall

Access Cornwall was founded by Viki in 2019, as a one stop resource of clear, accurate and useful accessibility information in Cornwall to help make sure people who live with disabilities and health conditions can get out of their homes and enjoy healthy, fun and social activities around Cornwall.

Viki grew up in Cornwall and from her teenage years she was a carer for her mum, who was a wheelchair user. In her 20's and early 30's Viki worked as a journalist and editor on national newspapers and magazines, She returned home to Cornwall in 2007 when she became a mum herself.

During these years Viki also worked for the Royal National Institute for the Deaf as well as doing volunteer work for charities including iSight Cornwall and organisations supporting people with learning disabilities and neurodivergence. 

Viki is passionate about making sure that accessible information covers hidden accessibility needs such as autism and learning disabilities as well as support for those who use wheelchairs and those with walking aids, or those with hearing or sight loss.

accesscornwall.org.uk