The Henry Moore Institute, The Hepworth Wakefield, Leeds Art Gallery and Yorkshire Sculpture Park are spearheading a major project to create the Yorkshire Sculpture Triangle.
A quartet of big names in the county’s artistic circle is hoping to prove that a triangle can have four sides.
If that sounds a little convoluted, let’s simplify. The Henry Moore Institute, The Hepworth Wakefield, Leeds Art Gallery and Yorkshire Sculpture Park are spearheading a major project to create the Yorkshire Sculpture Triangle.
They want to build on the county’s artistic heritage as the birthplace of two of the most important sculptors of the 20th century, Barbara Hepworth and Henry Moore, and encourage more than a million art-lovers to visit four outstanding venues offering free entry to world-class exhibitions all staged within a few miles of each other.
Gary Verity, chief executive of Welcome to Yorkshire, believes the scheme will not only showcase the county’s enviable cultural attractions but also signpost its terrific selection of hotels, bars and restaurants to visitors.
‘It will allow us to highlight how to get to Yorkshire, how to travel from gallery to gallery as well as pointing visitors towards the great places to stay and impressive places to eat,’ he said.
‘We’ll make it easy for those tempted to come to Yorkshire to see some of the best sculpture in the world.’
Among the impressive programme of events taking place this year are an exhibit of sculptures featuring fireworks and flares by Dennis Oppenheim at The Henry Moore Institute; the prestigious Northern Art Prize at Leeds Art Gallery; the biggest ever UK exhibition by British-Nigerian artist Yinka Shonibare MBE at Yorkshire Sculpture Park; and the UK premier of a dynamic new performance piece by artist Linder Sterling in collaboration with Northern Ballet, British fashion designer Pam Hogg and musician Stuart McCallum at The Hepworth Wakefield.
The quartet’s plans to promote the region as Europe’s premier sculptural destination have won the wholehearted backing of Arts Council England.‘I’m delighted we can support a project which will attract further investment and visitors to Yorkshire,’ said regional director Cluny Macpherson.
‘It’s a great example of how partnership working can help more people to become familiar with the county’s pre-eminence in modern sculpture.’If you would like to know more about the shape of things to come, visit the Yorkshire Sculpture Triangle website at Ysculpture.co.uk.
