Source: Wakefield Council
Date: 29/06/06
An award of almost £5 million has been announced by the Heritage Lottery Fund for the ambitious new gallery, The Hepworth Wakefield.
The award has secured the project and means that work will begin in August, with an opening planned for October 2008.
A delighted Peter Box, Leader of Wakefield Council, said: “This is marvellous news for the city and great news for the arts. The Hepworth Wakefield will be a building of national and international significance and will put the city on the cultural map of Britain.”
The Stage Two award is confirmation of the Stage One announcement by HLF last year and comes just weeks after a charitable trust was launched to raise a further £2 million to see the development through to completion.
The building, designed by renowned architect David Chipperfield, will feature Wakefield Art Gallery’s outstanding collection of works by Barbara Hepworth and other major 20th century British artists.
John Foster, the Council’s Chief Executive, said that The Hepworth Wakefield was a major public sector contribution to the redevelopment and regeneration of the Waterfront area of the city.
“This award represents significant support for the vision the Council has to transform the Waterfront and the rest of the Wakefield District. This project takes our rich heritage and culture and puts it in a modern context. It is further evidence that Wakefield really is improving,” he said.
Fiona Spiers, Heritage Lottery Fund Manager for Yorkshire and the Humber, said: "What better place than Wakefield, the birthplace of Hepworth, to celebrate the role that she played in 20th century art. The new gallery will be a catalyst for the regeneration Wakefield and will be a fantastic addition to the rich cultural map of Yorkshire."
Sir Alan Bowness of the Barbara Hepworth Family Trust, which is giving the gallery a unique collection of 30 original plasters used by Barbara Hepworth when casting her bronze sculptures, also welcomed the announcement.
The total cost of The Hepworth Wakefield building and the public garden around it is £22 million while the whole project, which includes a footbridge across the River Calder and access works to link The Hepworth Wakefield and the Waterfront to the city centre, will cost £26 million.
Wakefield Council has secured funding from The Arts Council as well as the Heritage Lottery Fund. Other funding has been secured or identified from the Council, Yorkshire Forward and the European Regional Development Fund. A further £2 million is needed to see the whole project through to completion and that will be one of the tasks of the newly formed Hepworth Wakefield Trust, which will also support the development and future operation of The Hepworth Wakefield.
As well as Barbara Hepworth’s work, the gallery will feature 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.
