Birthday surprise for The Hepworth Wakefield

As the art gallery prepares to celebrate its third birthday tomorrow, it has announced that it has been selected to compete for the honour of becoming ‘England’s National Treasure’ as part of a National Lottery campaign to find the country’s most popular National Lottery funded project of the last 20 years.

Simon Wallis, director of The Hepworth Wakefield said: “We are delighted to be recognised as one of the most inspirational projects in England. This is a wonderful way to mark our birthday and recognise our achievements.

“I hope all who’ve enjoyed visiting and supporting The Hepworth Wakefield will vote for us and those yet to come will be inspired to visit. Entrance is free so there’s never been a better time to come.”

The ‘What’s Your National Treasure?’ campaign asks people to vote for their favourite project from a shortlist of 12 iconic venues, landmarks and facilities.

The Hepworth Wakefield was awarded £5m in National Lottery funding, distributed via Arts Council England, towards gallery building costs.

Projects competing are: Beamish Museum (County Durham), Eden Project (Cornwall), The Hepworth (Wakefield), The Lowry (Manchester), Manchester SportCity, The Mary Rose Museum (Portsmouth), The Museum of Liverpool, National Memorial Arboretum (nr Lichfield), National Space Centre (Leicester), Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park (London), Turner Contemporary (Margate), Wembley Stadium (London).

Votes can be cast on Facebook.com/LotteryGoodCauses or www.nationallotterytreasures.co.uk/ from now until midnight on Tuesday 27 May. People taking part in the survey will be able to share their participation on Facebook for the chance to win one of five iPad Airs.