Date: 15/05/06
Source: Yorkshire Evening Post
Author: Stuart Robinson
A TRUST to fund a new £22m art gallery for Wakefield will be launched tonight as part of the city’s ambitious Waterfront project.
Government Minister for Culture David Lammy MP and leading architect David Chipperfield will speak at the launch of the trust to support the development and operation of The Hepworth Wakefield gallery and creative centre.
The building, which is set to open in 2008, has been named in tribute to Wakefield’s renowned sculptor Dame Barbara Hepworth and will feature examples of her work along with unique material donated by the Hepworth family trust which oversees her estate.
Coun Denise Jeffery, Wakefield Council’s cabinet member for culture, said: "At the centre of the gallery will fittingly be the unique collection of 30 original plasters used by Barbara Hepworth when casting her bronze sculptures and donated by the Hepworth family trust.
"It will also feature Wakefield Art Gallery's outstanding collection of works by Barbara Hepworth and other major 20th-century British artists, including Anthony Caro, Ben Nicholson, LS Lowry and Henry Moore, who, like Barbara Hepworth, was born just a few miles from the proposed gallery site."
The building is also set to include a public garden, and a footbridge across the River Calder to link the building with the city centre. The total cost of the project is estimated at £26m.
Wakefield Council has secured £5m of funding from The Arts Council and a Stage One Pass from the Heritage Lottery Fund to the tune of £4.98m.
Further cash is set to come from the council, Yorkshire Forward and the European Regional Development Fund, but organisers say a £2m shortfall must be made up to see the project through to completion.
Coun Jeffery said: "The trust will concentrate in the first two years on raising funds to support the capital cost of The Hepworth Wakefield. It will then support its activities after it opens - for example, exhibitions, education and outreach projects, artists in residence and artist commissions."
Activities
Tonight’s launch event will also include a speech from Sir Alan Bowness of the Barbara Hepworth Family Trust along with music, living sculptures, a Dhanya Asian dancer, a street circus and theatre, as well as the opportunity to view models and plans of The Hepworth Wakefield.
The Waterfront project will see £100m invested in the regeneration of the area beside the River Calder and Aire and Calder Navigation, and will feature a mix of high-quality offices and residential buildings as well as new space for cafes, bars and restaurants.
