St Aubyn Estates

Art Eye has supported St Aubyn Estates on a wide range of specialist projects along Cornwall’s stunning coastline, including the world-renowned St Micheal’s Mount, with its historic hotels and properties.

Art Consultancy / Sourcing artworks/ Artists liaison / Procurement / Art advisory & placement / Art Commissions / Specialist framing, plinth-making & installation

At the inner arch of Cornwall, just before it dips into the wild turquoise seas around West Penwith, lies Mount's Bay. At the centre of the bay – and a striking focal point for miles around – is the dramatic island of St Michael's Mount. It is a form which is made all the more impressive by the castle, chapel and houses which cling to it; piercing the skyline at it's summit, or sheltering on the leeward side. The Mount draws contemporary visitors from across the globe, but is at one step removed from the modern world, being an ancient site of pilgrimage and accessible from the mainland only when tide and weather allow.

Here, in this majestic location, Art Eye has worked in close collaboration with owners Lord & Lady St Levan, in order to choose and commission a resonant scheme of artworks, which would serve to inspire, engage and bring added enjoyment to day visitors and hotel guests. The brief was simple: to create an intelligent, high quality and relevant art experience for everybody to enjoy, whether visiting from across the globe, or the local community – for which the Godolphin Arms is a vibrant hub.

In this project, our aim was to bring spaces alive through art, with a sensitivity to place, clientele, atmosphere, client requirements and budget. Working on this project, our objective was to not only emphasise the high-calibre local art scene, adding value to the St Aubyn collection with new acquisitions, but also to show the importance of Mount's Bay and St Michael's Mount as places of enduring, romantic inspiration. We're really proud of what we've achieved here – creating a vibrant, exciting, art-filled destination, which helps to leave a lasting impression with the wide range of visitors to this landmark location.

The art has received such a great response that we’ve been invited back several times to add some additional artworks throughout the main hotel. We were also invited to update the art for the bedrooms, to organise reframing some of the existing pieces, and we were delighted to install a full scheme of commissioned art into the recently refurbished Sail Loft Restaurant on St Michael’s Mount. Again, each piece, and every artist involved, was chosen in close collaboration with James & Mary St Aubyn after careful shortlisting by Art Eye, also working with talented interior design firm 3iDog.