Art of Yorkshire Scoops Silver at Chelsea
Published: 24 May 2011
The Art of Yorkshire Garden from Welcome to Yorkshire has won a Silver medal at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show.
The garden celebrates Yorkshire's artists and those that have used Yorkshire as their muse such as Barbara Hepworth, Henry Moore, J M W Turner, David Hockney and Andy Goldsworthy.
Gary Verity, chief executive of Welcome to Yorkshire, said: "This is a fantastic achievement in just our second year exhibiting at Chelsea. We have been rushed off our feet today with visitors and well wishers clambering for a view of our award winning garden. We have Barbara Hepworth's granddaughter Sophie Bowness visiting us today, which is wonderful timing on the day we won Silver."
Bowness was visiting the garden to see her grandmother's 1958 sculpture Ascending Form, on loan from the Arts Council Collection, which is the centre-piece of the Art of Yorkshire design. It is the first time an original Hepworth sculpture has been exhibited at the world famous horticultural show.
Kate Dundas, Landscape Architect at Gillespies, Leeds, said: "The response to the garden has been overwhelming; visitors to the show have been incredibly enthusiastic about the design and what it represents. We are thrilled to have received a Silver medal; this is a proud moment for us and Yorkshire."
Gary Verity added: "With the opening of The Hepworth Wakefield last weekend Yorkshire is officially the European Capital of Sculpture and the aim of the rest of this week is to encourage as many people as possible to visit Yorkshire and explore our county's great galleries and gardens."
Cluny Macpherson, Regional Director of Arts Council England, added: "Yorkshire is a place of inspiration for artists and full of opportunities to experience great art. Barbara Hepworth's work will continue to be centre stage in Yorkshire following The Hepworth Wakefield opening. This landmark new gallery in the place of her birth will show rarely-seen works by Hepworth as well as a changing programme of the best contemporary artists."
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Editors' Notes:
• Welcome to Yorkshire is the official tourism agency for Yorkshire, working to grow the county's visitor economy.
• Welcome to Yorkshire is funded by Yorkshire Forward, the Regional Development Agency charged with improving the Yorkshire and Humber economy.
• Key facts include:
• Tourism in Yorkshire is worth £7 billion annually
• The county's industry employs almost a quarter of a million people
• There are 216 million visits to Yorkshire each year
For more news and a free image bank www.yorkshire.com/mediacentre
Gillespies: www.gillespies.co.uk
Leeds based Gillespies is a leading international masterplanning, landscape and urban design firm, with a reputation built on design expertise and track record for delivering high quality projects. Projects include design for major developments and communities, and high-profile public realm schemes. Finished projects are located in every major UK city, in Europe, the Middle East, Asia and Australia.
Arts Council England: This project has included support from the Arts Council. Arts Council England works to get great art to everyone by championing, developing and investing in artistic experiences that enrich people's lives. We support a range of artistic activities from theatre to music, literature to dance, photography to digital art, and carnival to crafts. Great art inspires us, brings us together and teaches us about ourselves, and the world around us. In short, it makes life better. Between 2011 and 2015, we will invest £1.4 billion of public money from government and a further £0.85 billion from the National Lottery to create these experiences for as many people as possible across the country.
For further information please contact:
Andrew Denton - Press Officer
Email: adenton@yorkshire.com
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Dee Marshall - Head of Communications
Email: dmarshall@yorkshire.com
Direct Line: 0113 3223505
Mobile: 07950 325 901