ART TROLLEY, THE HEPWORTH : WAKEFIELD

Sectors : Community

Client : The Hepworth

DLA have worked with Wakefield Metropolitan District Council and the city’s six key Arts Clients; Beam, Faceless, The Art House, Theatre Royal Wakefield, the Yorkshire Sculpture Park and The Hepworth Gallery over many years. In 2010 we won a design competition sponsored by WMDC to create an object that stimulates debate about culture and creativity, known as the Generator. This project cemented our relationship with the arts community and in 2011 we were invited to submit ideas for two ‘’art trolleys’’ that the Hepworth Gallery required for children and adults to access simple activities in the gallery spaces at weekends and holidays as part of the new galleries art education programme.

The ‘pods’ were designed to accommodate five sections of activities including drawing workshops, ‘’postcards from St Ives’’, Hepworth boxes, work activity cards and ‘’shape sculpture’’. These activity sections were designed as multi- purpose components so that adults and children could also use them for seating or impromptu working desks.

The design explores themes and works within The Hepworth collection through construction, art and craft, modelling, story-telling and library books.

After finalising the design, two colour schemes were developed, one to be used for the permanent collection and the other for temporary exhibitions. The two ‘Art pods’ were delivered to the gallery one week after its opening and are now in daily operation at The Hepworth.