The Falmouth Art Gallery and the Eden Project had a special visit from distinguished members of the Art Fund International judging panel.

The gallery has been shortlisted by Art Fund International for a possible £1 million purchase fund to form a contemporary African art collection of international importance. This will act as a catalyst for a project linking Falmouth Art Gallery, the Eden Project and University College Falmouth.

The Art Fund International scheme has been created to allow UK regional museums and galleries to develop collections of non European contemporary international art. Ten museums and galleries in the UK have been listed by the Art Fund International Committee, five of which will share in a £5 million pound budget.

The gallery is the only representative in Devon or Cornwall to have reached the final stage of the bidding.

The visiting panel included the Chair of Art Fund International Committee Professor Lord Renfrew of Kaimsthorn. He is an Art Fund trustee and renowned archaeologist with a particular interest in contemporary sculpture. His book Figuring it Out: Parallel Visions of Artists and Archaeologists explores the relationships between archaeology and contemporary art. He was accompanied by Dr Deborah Swallow, Director of the Courtauld Institute, Felicity Waley-Cohen, Co-Vice-Chairman of the Serpentine Gallery, and Rachael Browning and Sarah Phelp both of the Art Fund.

The panel were given a tour of the Miró exhibition and the art stores at Falmouth Art Gallery before going on to Eden where they were shown around by Tim Smit and artist John Dyer. They also met with Eden staff Sue Hill, and plant curators Dina Gallick and Glen Leishman.