Melissa Hardie-Budden MBE

Melissa Hardie-Budden MBE

Congratulations and good wishes have poured through the doors of the Jamieson Library and Trevelyan House, Penzance, at the announcement in the New Year's Honours List, of an award of MBE (Membership) for our former Director, who retired in November from her front-line post with the Hypatia Trust.

Melissa Hardie-Budden has been given the award in thanks for her 'services to Heritage and the Arts in West Cornwall.' Her intentions, of course, are not to 'slope off' to warmer, drier climes, though tempted!, but to explore some of the threads of thought revealed in the books she has so lovingly collected and nurtured. Melissa will continue to serve as Chairwoman of the Hypatia Trustees and participate in the work of sharing our Collections. Not especially good at sitting down (except at the desk), she will also continue as an ambassadress for the Trust and its missions.

Redwing Gallery & Asterisk* Bookshop at Trevelyan House 2012

Art by Peter Fox

The Redwing Gallery is a new Community Interest Company engaged in exhibiting 'outsider art' - for artists who have difficulty finding exhibition space in the established commercial galleries and artist circles of the district. The Redwing, for a six month period, finishing in July 2012, ran a 'pop-up gallery' at Trevelyan House, where artists brought in their work for short-term display in mixed shows alongside the work of painter and printmaker Peter Fox.

Creative workshops were offered to pupils of all ages for aspects of the book arts, by Roselyne Williams who is a maker of books.

Also on display was the 'Dwellings' Bookcase, created by Melissa Hardie together with the artist Roy Callow, to tell the story of a life spent in books - reading, publishing, writing and promoting literacy and education. Book launches and events related to the Penzance Literary Festival 2012 also took place and craft/arts fairs by community groups.

The Asterisk* Bookroom was open to the public for browsing amongst duplicate books from the Hypatia Trust Collections. Profits from the activities will contributed to the Campaign Fund set up to ensure the future of the Elizabeth Treffry Women in Cornwall Collection, a Special Collection of the Trust to remain in perpetuity in Cornwall.