Lucy Willow: Unfurling Fern – Introducing the new RCPS Medal Exhibition

Lucy’s art work will be shown alongside information about the history of the RCPS medals, first awarded in the 1830s.

The awarding of medals played a pivotal role in The Poly’s early history: The Polytechnic Hall was built solely to exhibit and promote new inventions. The medals encouraged submissions from the fields of Science, Industry and the Arts. The relaunch of the medal awards, almost two hundred years since the Poly’s founding, will celebrate the range of exciting, innovative work taking place in Cornwall today across these categories.  

In 2018 Lucy received the British Art Medal Society’s (BAMS) prestigious Marsh Award for the Encouragement of Medallic Art in recognition of her success supporting Falmouth University students in the BAMS annual medal competition. In a statement about her design for the new RCPS medal, produced in collaboration with medal-makers Bigbury Mint, the artist has said:

‘The unfurling fern spreads outwards to meet the wind, the elements and the insects in the garden. Much of my work as an artist comes from observing small details in my garden and using these as a metaphor to make drawings or sculptural works. There is something so joyful and celebratory about the fiddlehead, the new growth on a fern. It became the perfect metaphor to use for the design on one side of the medal.’ (December 2021)

This exhibition provides a unique opportunity to preview the new Royal Cornwall Polytechnic Society (RCPS) medal, designed by Cornwall-based artist and award-winning medallist, Lucy Willow, for the relaunch of the RCPS Medal Awards taking place in April 2023.

MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE REINTRODUCTION OF THE MEDAL AWARDS CAN BE FOUND HERE

LUCY WILLOW: UNFURLING FERN: INTRODUCING THE NEW RCPS MEDAL EXHIBITION

Exhibition open: Tuesday 7th to Saturday 11th February 2023 FREE ENTRY

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Please think social distance, and sanitise your hands on arrival.