On Sunday 16th May, a fire was discovered in the early morning at our Krowji creative hub. This started at the heart of the site in the North Light Building, which was used by painters, ceramicists and jewellery makers, before spreading into the old kiln room. Cornwall Fire and Rescue were in attendance and contained the fire but the studios in this building were destroyed and there was extensive water damage to the adjacent Creative Kernow office spaces. 15 of our tenants lost their studios while other studio holders experienced smoke and water damage to their spaces. The fire investigation team is working to discover the cause of the fire which is as yet unknown.
Krowji is slowly allowing tenants back in a limited capacity and during office hours. The café and reception office are closed until further notice due to water damage and Krowji endeavours to re-open fully as soon as it is possible.
Our staff and Krowji’s tenants have been overwhelmed by the amount of support and generosity offered by individuals and organisations and we cannot thank everyone enough for helping us to get through this devastating crisis. A Just Giving campaign created by Charlie Coleman on Sunday has raised £21,562 to support artists whose livelihoods have been most affected, and we extend our sincere thanks to him for this very quick response. Cornwall Community Foundation has also very kindly donated an amazing £20,000 to our emergency fund.
Creative Kernow, the creative and cultural sector support organisation which Krowji is a part of, has now launched the Krowji Emergency Campaign which will provide emergency support for our creative community of tenants. All of the money raised will go towards supporting Krowji artists who have been worst-affected and help us start to plan and rebuild for the future.
Find it here: https://www.justgiving.com/campaign/krowjiemergencycampaign
Creative Kernow is a registered charity, accountable to a board of trustees and works in complete transparency. Krowji’s priority is to support those artists who have been most affected and we will be offering financial, material and emotional support as required in the upcoming weeks and months.