In 1988 , the group purchased a former gas works and commissioned architects Eldred Evans and David Shalev , to design a building for the gallery in a similar style to the gas works . The building began in 1991 , funded by the European Regional Development Fund , the Henry Moore Foundation and donations from the public . It included a rotunda at the centre of the gallery , looking over Porthmeor Beach and was completed in 1993 . The gallery opened in June 1993 , the second of the Tate 's regional galleries after Tate Liverpool , receiving more than 120,000 visitors before the end of the year . In 1999 , to celebrate the solar eclipse ( as St Ives was predicted to be the first British town to witness the event ) , Tate St Ives held an exhibition called '' As Dark as Light '' , exhibiting work from Garry Fabian Miller , Gia Edzveradze and Yuko Shiraishi alongside art from local schoolchildren
solar eclipse
Solar eclipse of August 11, 1999
Tate St Ives