On Saturday October 14th The Jackson Foundation hosted An Evening of Butterflies, a charity event celebrating art, wine, music and nature, raising over £4,000 for Cornwall Wildlife Trust.
The whole idea started over a glass of wine. A number of years ago, leading contemporary artist Kurt Jackson and Mark Hellyar, the Cornishman behind Chateau Civrac, a small organic vineyard in Bordeaux discussed the possibility of working together. Once they had set about on their collaboration – Jackson would design the label and Hellyar create the wine – the next step was how to celebrate the unveiling of their new Chateau Civrac Wild White Sauvignon Blanc. Mavericks in their respective fields brought together by a love for nature, the obvious way to launch the wine was by holding a charity fundraiser in aid of the county’s leading wildlife charity Cornwall Wildlife Trust.
The eclectic event, dubbed An Evening of Butterflies brought together a diverse range of entertaining talents connected through their shared commitment to the environment. Among those taking to the stage on the night were wildlife filmmaker Mark Deeble whose work includes several credits on David Attenborough’s landmark series such as Africa and the Human Planet and Philip Marsden, author of many books on Cornwall, Ethiopia and the Middle East.
Acclaimed musician Martha Tilston treated the assembled audience to a set of her beautifully haunting songs including the poignant ‘The Cape’, a piece inspired by the work of Kurt Jackson and the landscape near St Just.
Canapes provided by The Old Coastguard, Mousehole were carefully paired to the wine by Head Chef Matt Smith.
The evening concluded with a prize draw to win the Kurt Jackson painting ‘On French Lavender’, a delicate study of a pair of butterflies generously donated by the artist to raise vital funds to support the invaluable work of Cornwall Wildlife Trust.
An Evening of Butterflies raised £4,065 for the Cornish charity, Cheryl Marriot, Head of Nature Conservation at Cornwall Wildlife Trust said “We would like to say a huge thank you to Kurt and all at the Jackson Foundation Gallery for putting on this amazing event for us. The money raised will go directly into our conservation work protecting Cornwall’s wildlife and wild places. Our work happens due to the support of our members and those who donate and raise money for us. Helping us through fundraising means playing a very important role in securing a better future for Cornwall’s wildlife.”
The Jackson Foundation would like to thank, in no particular order: musician Martha Tilston, Mark Hellyar and Chateau Civrac, Charles and Edmund Inkin of EATSLEEPDRINK (the owners of the Old Coastguard and the Gurnards Head), head chef of the Old Coastguard Matt Smith and his team Tim, Josh and Rosenwyn, door and waiting staff Jenny and Lisa, Keith Wyatt of Indie Kitchen for taking care of the sound, Vice Chair of Cornwall Wildlife Trust Stephen Warman, Richard French-Constant of the University of Exeter, filmmaker Mark Deeble, author Philip Marsden, and everyone who came the Evening of Butterflies and the hundreds more who bought tickets for the prize draw!
