19/08/2023
You may notice something different next time you visit us…
Ahead of the launch of our new Cultural Strategy this autumn, we wanted to make a bold statement about who we are and who we want to be in the future.
We are a big house with bigger ideas and this is represented in the pillars of our identity:
❤ We are BOLD
🧡 We are CUSTODIANS
💛 We are INDUSTRIOUS
💚 We are CURIOUS
💙 We are NURTURING
💜 We are ROTHERHAM
Thanks to Patrick Murphy Studio for creating these magnificent pillar wraps for us!
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Statement by Sarah McLeod
CEO of Wentworth Woodhouse Preservation Trust:
Well, the pillar wraps do seem to have caused a stir. It is wonderful to see that so many people like them on social media with hundreds of ‘likes and loves’, but also interesting to see how many people are very much opposed to them. What this tells us is there are many people who feel passionate about Wentworth Woodhouse and what happens here, which is wonderful.
For those who dislike the wraps please take comfort knowing they are only temporary, they will come down within 28 days to comply with planning law. They are made of material that is wrapped around the pillars, so they are causing no harm to the stone pillars underneath.
We are not the first Listed site to wrap our pillars in bright banners, in fact the culture vultures amongst you will know that other sites including Compton Verney, the Scottish Museum and many others have used their pillars in this way long before us.
The wraps are connected to the legacy of the WE Great Place project that ran before the pandemic, they represent reaching out to new people beyond the traditional heritage audiences. They are temporary and bring focus and attention to the principles of the project – that Wentworth is for everyone and not just the traditional few. This message underpins our Cultural Strategy which is being launched imminently.
Wentworth Woodhouse was never a static house, in its heyday the family were always progressive, collecting, commissioning, and showing art to their guests which was highly contemporary in its day. We would like to maintain that approach, looking forwards rather than always back, whilst telling stories of the past to modern audiences in modern ways.
As you will all know, we have no collection at Wentworth and over the next five years we shall be experimenting with different art forms to gauge people’s responses before we make permanent decisions about what we show at Wentworth Woodhouse in the future. Our ambition to show a variety of work, some very contemporary, some more traditional, but all of it providing the people of South Yorkshire with the chance to see things they may not have seen before and to help in the decision-making process by feeding back to us.
We really welcome your feedback, whether positive or otherwise. If you don’t like something we are trialing, then by all means let us know but can I ask that you keep your comments polite. We are a gentle bunch of people at Wentworth, whose genuine objective is to do nice things to make our world a better place. Art is subjective and something one person likes may be received very differently by somebody else. It is important that we don’t think only about what we want as individuals but also what appeals to others, who may not have had a voice before.
Thank you to those who have emailed in with constructive criticism which we can use in our evaluation. It is helpful.
