Shropshire’s Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust aims to attract new audiences to its venues this summer with the launch of a contemporary art programme backed by Arts Council England (ACE).
The sculptor David Nash, the artist Faye Claridge and the House of Fairy Tales, a children’s arts charity established by artists Gavin Turk and Deborah Curtis, will participate in the Shifting Worlds initiative, which focuses on the industrial revolution.
Nash has been commissioned to make a new, large-scale sculpture called Three Black Humps, which explores the history of iron production. The piece, embedded in a circle of crushed coal, will be unveiled on 22 June next to the Old Furnace.
Meanwhile, Claridge has invited local residents to create a multimedia piece called The Mystery of the Missing Portraits. The House of Fairy Tales is organising The Time Travellers’ Ironbridge Quest, a free family festival at Enginuity and Coalbrookdale Museum of Iron on 22 August.
Anna Brennand, the chief executive of the trust, said the festival should boost links with the local community and encourage a greater sense of ownership.
“The programme has been designed to attract a variety of new audiences in a variety of different ways,” Brennand said.
“As part of our audience development plan, we are running a number of cross-cultural events, such as Shifting Worlds that will attract new audience segments. Shifting Worlds will attract contemporary art fans who may not have previously considered visiting the Ironbridge Gorge Museums.”
ACE has provided £87,000 for the scheme. Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust, which encompasses 10 museums, is an arts council Major Partner Museum, while the Shropshire-based contemporary art body Meadow Arts, the partner institution in the project, is an ACE national portfolio organisation.
The sculptor David Nash, the artist Faye Claridge and the House of Fairy Tales, a children’s arts charity established by artists Gavin Turk and Deborah Curtis, will participate in the Shifting Worlds initiative, which focuses on the industrial revolution.
Nash has been commissioned to make a new, large-scale sculpture called Three Black Humps, which explores the history of iron production. The piece, embedded in a circle of crushed coal, will be unveiled on 22 June next to the Old Furnace.
Meanwhile, Claridge has invited local residents to create a multimedia piece called The Mystery of the Missing Portraits. The House of Fairy Tales is organising The Time Travellers’ Ironbridge Quest, a free family festival at Enginuity and Coalbrookdale Museum of Iron on 22 August.
Anna Brennand, the chief executive of the trust, said the festival should boost links with the local community and encourage a greater sense of ownership.
“The programme has been designed to attract a variety of new audiences in a variety of different ways,” Brennand said.
“As part of our audience development plan, we are running a number of cross-cultural events, such as Shifting Worlds that will attract new audience segments. Shifting Worlds will attract contemporary art fans who may not have previously considered visiting the Ironbridge Gorge Museums.”
ACE has provided £87,000 for the scheme. Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust, which encompasses 10 museums, is an arts council Major Partner Museum, while the Shropshire-based contemporary art body Meadow Arts, the partner institution in the project, is an ACE national portfolio organisation.