Yorkshire Sculpture International

The first Yorkshire Sculpture International, said to be the UK’s largest event celebrating sculpture, will take place from 22nd June to 29th September 2019 with a supporting education programme.

Yorkshire Sculpture International is produced by the Henry Moore Institute, The Hepworth Wakefield, Leeds Art Gallery and Yorkshire Sculpture Park.

The event will feature work by international artists across the four venues, as well as major new outdoor sculpture commissions across public spaces in Leeds and Wakefield, inviting children to interact with art in unexpected places in the cities.

All elements of the Yorkshire Sculpture International programme will be free to attend, encouraging new audiences to engage with sculpture.

Educational opportunities

The event will be accompanied by an extensive engagement programme working with schools, universities, and communities.

As part of this programme, ‘The Year of Sculpture’, starting in September 2018, will address the reported decline in the study of arts subjects in schools, in particular the deficit of 3D learning in classrooms.

In a partnership with Art UK, five Yorkshire schools will be lent a sculpture for the day from The Henry Moore Institute, The Hepworth Wakefield, Leeds Art Gallery or Yorkshire Sculpture Park. Works being lent for the initiative will be chosen by the schoolchildren involved from a list of artists including Barbara Hepworth, Henry Moore and Anne Hardy.

Meanwhile a partnership with The Freelands Foundation will enable ten teachers working in Yorkshire to take part in a Continuing Professional Development Programme to upskill their teaching and artistic practice, exploring how sculpture can be used in the classroom.

This has been developed in response to a call from teachers in the region to learn new ways of introducing 3D work back into schools.

For further information visit www.ysculpture.co.uk/ysi

(Photo credit: Sarah Mason).