Sponsored by
Hepworth comes to Wakefield
Next year will see the opening of the new showpiece Hepworth Wakefield art gallery – and the city's image will be changed forever.
Stuart Robinson reports
Wind the clock back seven years and the idea of Wakefield becoming a centre for the arts to rival major cities like London would have seemed fanciful at best.
* Click here for more Wakefield news.
Whatever Wakefield's image, it certainly was not that of a cultural centre.
* Click here to watch latest YEP news and sport video reports.
But next spring, years of hard work will finally see the notion of a world-class 35m gallery in the city become reality.
* Click here for latest YEP news and sport picture slideshows.
And it is hoped its presence will help catapult the city into a different league. Already, such is its draw that hundreds of people have been to look around what is currently a completely empty space.
* Click here for latest YEP sport headlines.
The gallery is named after Wakefield-born artist Barbara Hepworth, who would no doubt be pleased because a sense of community, she once wrote, is an important factor in the life of an artist.
And as the spectacular venue edges ever closer to finally opening its doors, her work will play a huge role in changing the city's cultural
landscape forever.
Project bosses are hoping The Hepworth, as a major part of the city's newly-developed waterfront, will be an economic and cultural catalyst in Wakefield's regeneration.
Director Simon Wallis, who has 15 years' experience curating exhibitions in some of the UK's leading art galleries and museums, told the YEP: "It will bring a significant number of people to the city and in turn that will have a real galvanizing effect on the sense of civic pride people feel. We're expecting 160-170,000 visitors to The Hepworth each year and by creating that footfall, we'll be helping people to
realise that there is a waterfront in Wakefield."
Designed by award-winning architect David Chipperfield, once it opens The Hepworth Wakefield will be the largest purpose-built exhibition space outside London.
It will include a gallery dedicated to Wakefield and Yorkshire in Pictures, making sure it stays in touch with its roots, alongside a collection featuring work by 20th Century British artists Ben Nicholson, Graham Sutherland, Paul Nash, Duncan Grant, Patrick Heron and Walter Sickert.
Loans through the Tate Connects scheme will also mean a changing programme of work by internationally-renowned artists.
An education programme and a 2.5m learning centre will also play a big part, inspiring the next generation of young, local artists with workshops and seminars.
But the cornerstone of the gallery's collection will of course be a landmark selection of work by Dame Barbara Hepworth herself – fitting considering the lasting influence Wakefield and West Yorkshire had on shaping her early life and career.
Born in Wakefield in 1903, the artist attended Wakefield Girls High School.
She won a scholarship and studied at the Leeds School of Art from 1920, later winning a scholarship to the Royal College of Art.
More than 35 years after her death, her career will come full circle, with the new Wakefield gallery promising an unparalleled display featuring 30 previously unseen works as its centrepiece – a gift from The Hepworth Estate.
And Mr Wallis said by working in tandem with the Yorkshire Sculpture Park, which already attracts thousands of visitors to Wakefield, the Hepworth can realistically make the city a cultural hub for the North.
It's an opinion echoed by renowned modern day sculptor Antony Gormley, who has gone so far as to say The Hepworth will become "a place of pilgrimage for all lovers of sculpture."
High praise indeed, but Mr Wallis could not agree more: "I think with us opening next May, it creates this critical mass where we've got these two organisations that are so close together. The sculpture park has this wonderful outdoor experience and when we open we suddenly have this amazing focus on the creative arts in Wakefield for those that are interested in finding out more about both Barbara Hepworth and Henry Moore," he said.
Last week the gallery opened up to members of the public for the very first time, taking its place as part of a regular art walk event around the city.
And Mr Wallis said the level of interest in what is currently a completely empty gallery can only bode well for the future.
"We thought it went really well – the numbers of people who came along to just have a look round was really positive. We had around 400 people and it was good to be a part of the Artwalk," he said.
Collections are due to be installed later this year ahead of the grand opening the following spring.
Mr Wallis said nobody would be more proud of the impact the gallery is set to make on the district than Barbara Hepworth herself.
He said: "I think she would be absolutely delighted. Her father was a civil engineer who worked in the West Riding. She went on to become one of the 20th Century's most important artists and she had a real sense of place about Wakefield."
* The Hepworth Wakefield will also be open to the public as part of the Artwalk on May 26, July 28, September 29 and November 24.
Email to a friend
Print this page
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Leeds
Friday 25 May 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: 10 C to 23 C
Wind Speed: 20 mph
Wind direction: East
Tomorrow
Sunny
Temperature: 8 C to 20 C
Wind Speed: 16 mph
Wind direction: East
