Oscar-winning director Steve McQueen will be among the artists taking part in a major new arts project in Helston next year.

The director, whose 2013 film 12 Years a Slave won an Academy Award, BAFTA and Golden Globe, is also an acclaimed artist who has won the Turner Prize.

His work will be on display in Helston this coming spring, as part of Groundwork - a £500,000, three-programme of exhibitions and events being held all over West Cornwall, co-ordinated by the Cornubian Arts and Science Trust (CAST) from next May.

The arts organisation will also host an exhibition at its 3 Penrose Road base, along with Goonhilly Earth Station, Helston Museum and Tremayne Quay near St Martin.

Godolphin Estate, Kestle Barton Gallery near Manaccan, Par Beach and the Telegraph Museum Porthcono make up the list of venues already announced.

Other artist that will be involved include Belgian artist Francis Alÿs who has exhibited in the Tate Modern, Dutch filmmaker Manon de Boer, Canadian Janet Cardiff who works in sound art, choreographer and performer Rosemary Lee, Irishman Sean Lynch who combines video, sculpture and graphic prints, sculptor Christina Mackie who has been commissioned by Tate Britain, photographer Steven Rowell and Brighton-based duo Semiconductor, aka Ruth Jarman and Joe Gerhardt, who have been discovering Goonhilly Earth Station and meeting with the astronomers who plan to explore deep space using the old antennas on the site.

The CAST building will be a hub for the whole programme, with an opening weekend of celebrations and events taking place on the first May bank holiday, just before Flora Day.

Contemporary art projects will then take place through to July, concluding with a programme of special events in September.

With an emphasis on moving image, sound and performance, the programme will include new commissions alongside existing works.

More artists and works will be announced early next year, as well as a programme of field trips, music, screenings, talks and readings, many in places usually closed to the public.

Teresa Gleadowe, director of Groundwork, said: “This unfolding season of exhibitions and events has grown out of collaborations and partnerships with a host of artists, institutions, organisations, schools and colleges in Cornwall and beyond. It will provide exceptional opportunities to experience outstanding work by artists of international renown.”

It is being supported by funding through Arts Council England’s Ambition for Excellence scheme and has been developed in partnership with Kestle Barton, Newlyn Art Gallery & The Exchange and Tate St Ives.

Support and funding has also come from Freelands Foundation, Ampersand Foundation, Quercus Trust, Outset Contemporary Art Fund and Cornwall Council.