A key member of the Hall For Cornwall team has been remembered by her colleagues after her untimely passing following a short battle with cancer.

Artist development producer Kirsty Cotton died on Monday, April 22, at St Julia’s Hospice in Hayle, with family by her side and following a continuous stream of visits from friends in recent days. 

Having joined Hall for Cornwall in 2014 as talent development programme manager, Kirsty toiled tirelessly on behalf of hundreds of artists while helping to build HfC’s Get Creative programme, which now supports more than 400 artists and 10,000 young people every year.

Deploying her previous experience as a drama teacher, Kirsty also cemented ties with schools and teachers across Cornwall, ensuring creativity remained high on the agenda.  

More recently, Kirsty became artist development producer, which extended her role to work as a producer for the Cornwall Playhouse Productions.

Kirsty wore these dual hats with great success, nurturing and cultivating emerging artists and providing an experienced shoulder for established Cornish creatives, while producing a large-scale annual production culminating in 2023’s record-breaking Christmas show Peter Pan, which received rave reviews nationally. 

HFC chief executive and creative director Julien Boast said: “We’re heartbroken at this news. Kirsty helped us achieve so much and was so admired by all of us – she was a strategic powerhouse and dedicated to understanding others and taking them as they were.

“I will certainly miss her naughty sense of humour, too. That’s such a hard act to pull off – wit, integrity and equity. What an inspirational and indelible mark Kirsty has left on us.” 

Deputy creative director Helen Tiplady, who worked most closely with Kirsty throughout her HFC career, said: “Kirsty always kept us honest. She perfected the Paddington Bear ‘hard stare’ that could freeze you in your tracks.

“But with that steel came tenderness: she was the best listener, and had a gift for generous nurturing and teasing out the essence of what we needed to achieve. We’re utterly devastated - Kirsty will be sorely missed.”  

The HFC team is gathering memories of Kirsty to be passed onto her family. These can be emailed to [email protected]