A gallery designed specifically for youngsters at Ferens Art Gallery has been shortlisted for a prestigious 2018 Museums and Heritage Award.
Explore Art, the gallery designed for under-fives and their families through Heritage Learning, has been shortlisted in the Project on a Limited Budget category, amongst four other projects across the country.
Explore Art opened in January 2017 in the newly refurbished Ferens Art Gallery and has since welcomed over 100,000 families.
The space was designed to break down barriers to art appreciation by looking at paintings and sculpture through the familiar concepts of colour, shape, texture and line. It provides a way-in for children and their families to experience original artworks enhanced by interactive stations and imaginative activities for creating and playing.
Kirsten Simister, Ferens Art Gallery Curator said:
We are really proud that our colleagues in Heritage Learning have been shortlisted for this award the third year in a row that Heritage Learning has received a nomination.
It has been wonderful that the Ferens has had this special resource as part of the gallerys offer over the past year and it has proved to be immensely popular with visitors of all ages.
This fantastic project was carefully put together by learning colleagues following consultation with families and early years professionals in Hull, who helped us design how it looked and what it included.
The tight budget necessitated a simple concept, which was to create a welcoming, light space which encouraged creativity and acted as a springboard to explore the whole gallery it has worked brilliantly over the past year and we hope to be able to build further on this successful initiative in years to come.
The winners will be announced at a ceremony at the historic staterooms of Londons 8 Northumberland Avenue on Wednesday 16 May.