A round-up of art events in the region

5th until September

Barbara Hepworth: Within the Landscape, Abbot Hall, Kendal

Abbot Hall’s summer exhibition focuses on one of the greatest artists of the 20th century, Dame Barbara Hepworth. It contains some of Hepworth’s most iconic sculptures including Stringed Figure (Curlew), 1956, Torso III (Galatea), 1958, and Moon Form, 1968, alongside prints, photographs and ephemera detailing the artist’s life long relationship with the landscape.

Until September

The Sleeping Green Between by Jennifer Vickers, Imperial War Museum North

Inspired by the little known story of a First World War soldier, an intricately designed textile artwork containing almost 200 hand-stitched crosses is to go on display at IWM North to mark the centenary of the conflict.

The Sleeping Green Between - no man’s land – is inspired by the Red Cross quilts which were made to raise funds, as well as the artist’s own First World War family history.

The hand sewn piece took four months to construct and includes 179 crosses to represent the war graves in a First World War Belgian cemetery. A single red cross represents Vickers’ great-grandfather who was killed in action and buried there.

Until September

Rossetti’s Obsession: Images of Jane Morris Lady Lever Gallery, Port Sunlight

Jane Burden Morris was the wife of poet and designer William Morris, and the favoured model of Pre-Raphaelite painter Dante Gabriel Rossetti. In his maturity Rossetti drew and painted Jane with obsessional intensity and she was cast in many roles - as Beatrice, Pandora, Proserpine, Astarte.

This exhibition brings together compelling examples of this pictorial obsession, together with contrasting images of Jane as herself reflecting her actual life and interests, beyond model.

19th until October

Here’s One We Made Earlier: The story of BBC Children’s broadcasting, the Lowry, Salford

Uncle Caractacus, Muffin the Mule, Andy Pandy, Teletubbies, Crackerjack, Newsround, Blue Peter... our childhoods have been defined by the broadcasts we first encountered as children.

This major exhibition explores the story of over 90 years of BBC Children’s broadcasting, from 1922, when the BBC launched Children’s Hour, right up to the present multi-media moment.

Here’s one we made earlier will reflect shifting perceptions of children in society, from toddlers who were asked to ‘sit comfortably’ in front of the family wireless, to today’s children who take centre stage on air and online.

Until September

Making Waves, Harris Museum, Preston

From stormy seas to tranquil sunny bays and busy harbours to shipwrecks, the beauty, drama and ever-changing nature of our seas has long fascinated artists. This exhibition, which includes paintings of much-loved Lancashire seaside destinations, explores the challenges of capturing the movement of waves and the changing moods of the sea on canvas, in watercolour, print, ceramic and film.

Making Waves draws on the Harris’ rich collection of marine paintings including work by Julius Olsson, Paul Nash, Maggie Hambling, Lubaina Himid, and ceramic artist James Tower.

24-27

Milnthorpe Art Exhibition

The 25th Annual Milnthorpe Art Exhibition in St Thomas’s Church,The Green, Market Square, Milnthorpe, LA7 7QJ. Open 10am-7pm daily – until 3pm on Sunday. Over the years the Men’s Forum has raised more than £125,000 for local charities and good causes. This year St John’s Hospice, Lancaster, ageUK South Lakes, and St Thomas’s Church will benefit.

Until September

Sculptural Forms Manchester Art Gallery

This exhibition explores some of the imaginative ways in which the sculptural form has been re-invented from just before World War One to the present day. It does so by combining sculpture with two-dimensional works of art and designed objects to create some unexpected but visually stunning juxtapositions. It’s an opportunity to see major pieces from the Whitworth while it’s closed.

Until October

Mondrian and his Studios at Tate Liverpool

The exhibition investigates Mondrian’s broader relationship with architecture and urbanism, particularly through a comparison of his earlier Parisian works and those made in the hectic modern cityscape of New York. One of the pioneers of modern art, many of his best-known Neo-Plastic works will be exhibited, featuring his own instantly recognisable abstract painting style comprising straight lines and clearly defined primary colours.

26th-September

Lakes Artists Society Summer Exhibition, Grasmere New Hall

Tens of thousands flock annually to this much-loved exhibition of work by the Lakes artists. The Society is now in its 110 year and encourages non-members to exhibit their paintings and sculpture with them. Awards are given by local business sponsors and presented to artists of merit.

Congratulations to Lakes Artist Kate Bentley – a former Lancashire Life Artist of the Month - who has been granted associated membership of the Royal Birmingham Society of Artists and, after a decade of trying, is now a full member of the Society of Women Artists. Pictured is one of her four pieces in the SWA annual show at the Mall Galleries in London which was opened by Prince Michael of Kent. The exhibition closes on Saturday, July 5.