1888-present

 The first meeting of an informal group of artists, to discuss the formation of an Artists Club, was held on August 1, 1890, making the Club the earliest official society in West Cornwall by a margin of five years. Louis GRIER offered his studio, The Foc’sle, for the first meetings and thereby is often referred to as the Founder Member; however, the first committee was made up of the following artists: Adrian STOKES (President), Eardley Wilmot BLOMFIELD, William EADIE, Charles Greville MORRIS, Edward Emerson SIMMONS, William Holt Yates TITCOMB and Henry Harewood ROBINSON (Hon Sec). The first members invited were a combination of artists from both sides of the peninsula, and included such figures as Caroline Burland GOTCH and Thomas Cooper GOTCH, Henry Edward DETMOLD, and literary personages such as Leslie Stephen (Editor, [Old] Dictionary of National Biography.) Important stalwarts through the years were Mary Lovett CAMERON, who challenged the ‘boys’ network in support of the women artists who also tried to earn their living through art, and Moffat LINDNER, who would also play a major role in the establishment of STISA following. Their activities included the organisation of exhibitions, Annual Show Days, lectures, dinners, as well as theatrical and musical events, all for the benefit of their members, guests, and families.