The Hepworth Wakefield's 5th Anniversary Celebrations

These include:

• A major new biennial £30,000 prize for sculpture
• Plans for a 6,000 square metre public garden to be designed by one of four of the UK’s top garden designers
• The Tim Sayer Bequest, a significant gift of modern British and contemporary art to Wakefield

THE GALLERY ALSO ANNOUNCED DETAILS OF THE 2016 EXHIBITIONS PROGRAMME:

• Opening with a major survey of photographic works and a new commission by Martin Parr.
• The first UK survey of Stanley Spencer’s paintings for 15 years.
• Exhibtions of works from the Tim Sayer Bequest, Kettle’s Yard collections and an exhibition of late work by Barbara Hepworth at Phillips’ new European headquarters in London.

Designed by the award-winning David Chipperfield Architects, The Hepworth Wakefield opened to critical acclaim on 21 May 2011 and welcomed its millionth visitor in December 2013. Since then, the gallery has welcomed 1.4 million visitors and contributed approximately £20 million to the local economy.

The award-winning gallery received the coveted ‘Museum of the Year Clore Award for Learning’ in 2013, the same year that The Hepworth Wakefield opened The Calder – a 600sq metre contemporary art and events space, located on the ground floor of a Victorian textiles mill in the gallery gardens opposite The Hepworth.

Simon Wallis, Director of The Hepworth Wakefield said: “As we look to our fifth anniversary, I am delighted and inspired by how much we have achieved and the large, engaged and loyal audience we’ve built for our programme. We have ambitious plans on the horizon for our fifth year. Our work focuses not only on the offer at the gallery but also the wider context of our locality, as we enable positive change within local communities and are central to progressing the wider regeneration project of the Wakefield Waterfront. We’re delighted to have added significantly to the growing reputation of Yorkshire’s visual arts offer.”

David Liddiment, Chair of The Hepworth Wakefield said: “I’m immensely proud of what the team has achieved. I think that the success of the gallery is evident in the numerous repeat visitors and the excellent satisfaction ratings we receive from our audience. The gallery provides the inspiring experience of world class art in the best designed purpose built gallery in the UK. I’m thrilled that the ambition and reputation of the gallery continues to grow.”

A major new biennial award, with a £30,000 prize recognising a British or UK-based artist who has made a significant contribution to contemporary sculpture, is at the heart of the gallery’s fifth anniversary celebrations. The Prize is open to artists of any age, at any stage in their career and their selection will be based on the significance of their contribution to sculpture in its broadest definition.  The four shortlisted artists will present their work in an exhibition at The Hepworth Wakefield in October 2016, with the winner to be announced in November 2016.

Four designs by some of the world’s leading international garden designers and visionary landscape architects will be vying for the chance to create The Hepworth Riverside Garden. The shortlisted designs are by Christopher Bradley Hole and Brita von Schoenaich (joint submission), Tom Stuart-Smith, Cleve West, and Peter Wirtz, who have between them amassed an impressive 16 gold medals and 6 coveted ‘best in show’ awards at RHS Chelsea Flower Show. Local residents and visitors have until 31 October to view and offer feedback on the shortlisted designs for the new 6,000 square metres public garden.  The winning design will be announced in January 2016 to coincide with Visit England’s The Year of the English Garden’.

Respected cultural commentator and Hepworth Wakefield trustee John Holden will become the first ‘Hepworth Wakefield Visiting Professor’ at the University of Leeds School of Fine Art, History of Art and Cultural Studies.  The creation of this new role will further strengthen the existing partnership between the two organisations, strategically working to boost the creative industries in West Yorkshire.

Self-confessed ‘artoholic’, and retired BBC Radio 4 writer Tim Sayer has bestowed a significant gift of modern and contemporary British art to Wakefield.  Amassed over the last 50 years, the extensive collection includes works by modern and contemporary artists including: Alexander Calder, Kenneth Martin, Henry Moore, Sean Scully, Naum Gabo, Antony Gormley, Louise Bourgeois, David Hockney, Paul Nash,John Nash, David Nash, Sol LeWitt,  Robert Motherwell, Bridget Riley, Anthony Caro, Richard Smith, Prunella Clough and Alan Reynolds.  Major works from the Tim Sayer Bequest will go on display at the gallery from 30 April 2016.

An exhibition of late works by Barbara Hepworth, one of the 20th century’s most important sculptors, will go on display in Phillips, London in July 2016, in support of The Hepworth Wakefield’s 5th anniversary.  The new European headquarters at Berkeley Square in Mayfair will host a display of works from the most prolific decade in Hepworth’s career 1965-75, during which the artist experimented in new materials, working in bronze, slate and print-making.