ArtBox

year-round exhibitions of local Cornwall artisans in Tywardreath, England

Tony Foster with his Lockdown Diary–56 Days, attending its exhibition in Cornwall's smallest art museum, ArtBox, May 2020. Photo by Roshni Tamang Mitchell

In Tony’s home village of Tywardreath, an abandoned telephone box has been transformed into one of the world’s smallest art galleries. British Telecom’s classic red kiosks are now obsolete because of cell phones. But Tony, along with two of his friends, Roshni Tamang Mitchell and Dana Roberts, saw opportunity in the one situated on a main thoroughfare in their community and leased the phone box for £1 (one pound) to establish a non-profit-making venture. Since May of 2019 they have mounted a series of small and wonderful exhibitions in the phone box for passersby to enjoy. From the initial exhibition that was a tribute to John Lobb, a 19th century Tywardreath farm labourer who went on to become Royal Bootmaker to a more recent installation of found objects from Tony’s own journeys, this relic has become a source of discovery, fun and education for the community.