WAKEFIELD.- The Hepworth Wakefield will reopen its doors to the public on 1 August 2020 – Yorkshire Day. Initially the gallery will be open Weds-Sun, 10am-5pm. On display will be the popular and critically acclaimed Bill Brandt / Henry Moore exhibition, extended until 1 November 2020. Advance booking is available now and is strongly recommended.

Six free galleries present works from Wakefield’s art collection. The displays include a gallery of recent contemporary acquisitions, from sculpture by Helen Marten, winner of both the Turner Prize and Hepworth Prize for Sculpture, and Veronica Ryan to a painting by Lisa Brice. Two galleries are dedicated to Barbara Hepworth and her creative process, including a full-sized plaster cast for her famous Winged Figure, as well as her work bench and tools. Another gallery explores work by Hepworth’s friends and peers in St Ives, including work by Wilhelmina Barnes-Graham, Terry Frost, Patrick Heron, Bernard Leach and Ben Nicholson.




Outside visitors can enjoy The Hepworth Wakefield Garden designed by internationally renowned garden designer Tom Stuart-Smith. The garden has remained open throughout UK lockdown, providing local residents with an inspiring and uplifting space to take their daily exercise or safely meet friends outdoors. The garden has grown into a tapestry of beautiful blooms and Stuart-Smith’s distinctive planting provides the perfect setting for outdoor sculptures. On display are artworks by Lynn Chadwick, Sir Michael Craig-Martin, Barbara Hepworth and Rebecca Warren, reflecting the combination of modern and contemporary art to be found inside the gallery. The garden is open daily and free to all.

There will be pop-up food and drink vendors on site during August serving hot and cold drinks as well as snacks such as toasties and crepes, while the final preparations for the newly restored Gatehouse garden café are completed. The Hepworth Café will have a new selling display of prints by local artist Seanna Doonan and can be used as an indoor picnic area.

A range of measures are being put in place to ensure the safety of visitors, staff and volunteers. These include hygiene stations with hand sanitiser throughout the building, monitoring of room capacity to ensure social distancing measures are adhered to, all staff wearing face coverings, with visitors also encouraged to wear face masks and regular cleaning of public areas throughout the day.

Simon Wallis, Director of The Hepworth Wakefield, said: ‘After four months of being closed, we are so looking forward to welcoming visitors back to the gallery. Our doors shut only a few weeks after opening our hugely popular and critically acclaimed Bill Brandt / Henry Moore exhibition, so we are delighted to have been able to extend the exhibition and give people another chance to visit. Our free Tom Stuart-Smith garden has been such a vital resource for local communities during lockdown and we can’t wait for many more people to enjoy it and see how it has developed over the last year. We have in place a detailed and rigorous plan to ensure people can once again safely visit our beautiful galleries. I want to thank everyone, particularly our members and patrons for their continued support of our charity and patience at this challenging time.”