Tree on Saddleworth Moor (Photo: Stuart Coleman©2012)
A group of artists have created a number of works inspired by the essence of the moors and now their work can be seen at a spring exhibition.
Photographs capturing all four seasons will hang alongside artworks and objects in an exhibition to inspire all to experience the ever changing moorland landscape for themselves.
The exhibition launches the third year of an ongoing project called ‘Inspired by Landscape’. It will open at the Manor House Museum, Castle Yard, Ilkley, on Saturday, April 21 and run until Sunday, July 1. The exhibition will bring together a wide variety of work from the collections of Bradford Museums and Galleries by artists for whom the moors have been their muse.
“The South Pennine uplands can feel remote, wild and exhilarating whilst also being a place for reflection and relaxation,” explained Anna Carter, Watershed Landscape interpretation officer.
“The Moor Views exhibition brings together a really diverse range of artworks, literature and contemporary pieces, to illustrate just what a hugely inspiring place the South Pennine uplands, with its very changeable weather, has been in the past, and continues to be for today’s creative artists and writers.
“Hopefully the exhibition will inspire new audiences to go out and explore this fascinating landscape on their doorstep: just maybe there is another Ted Hughes out there ready to be inspired by what the moors offer.”
The exhibition features work by Joseph Pighills as well as David Rose, Herbert Royale, FW Sunderland, Joseph Clayton Bentley and Simon Warner, the artist in residence for the final year of the Watershed Landscape project. Also on display will be photographs taken as part of a recent photography competition and the results of a number of family workshops, in which participants were asked to capture the essence of the seasons through the lens of their camera.
Maggie Pedley, Bradford’s Museums and Galleries manager, said: “It is great to complement photographs taken over the past year of the South Pennines with artwork and also objects from our collections. It will hopefully add to people’s understanding and appreciation of the area and encourage visitors to return in the future.”
Free guided tours will take place each Sunday from April 29 to June 3, at 1.30pm and 2.30pm. The two tours on offer entitled: Hidden Treasures: History, Heritage and Collections of the Manor House; and Moor Views: and Artists and Photographers Inspired by the Watershed Landscape, will take between 20 and 30 minutes.
The Watershed Landscape project, managed by rural regeneration company, Pennine Prospects, and funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund and South Pennines LEADER, aims to enhance and protect the important ecological and heritage features of the landscape for the benefit of future generations and celebrates the uplands as a place of inspiration for all to enjoy. Inspired by Landscape has been supported by the City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council and Bradford Museums and Galleries.
The Manor House Museum is free to enter and is open Tuesdays, 1pm to 5pm; Wednesdays to Saturdays, 11am to 5pm; and Sundays, 1pm to 4pm. It is closed on Mondays, except bank holidays.
The second Inspired by Landscape exhibition of the year, Ways to the Stone House, featuring the work of photographer and filmmaker Simon Warner, will be held from September 28 until December 3 at the Bronte Parsonage Museum, Haworth.
For more information about the South Pennines, forthcoming events, opportunities and resources visit www.watershedlandscape.co.uk and www.bradfordmuseums.org
