Yorkshire Sculpture Park column: New director appointed at YSP ahead of landmark year

It’s where I first fell in love with art, landscape and culture, and where I developed that strong sense of Yorkshire pride that never really leaves you, wherever you end up living. To now return and take on this role at YSP feels incredibly special.

Yorkshire has such an amazing artistic legacy. This is the county that gave us Barbara Hepworth, Henry Moore and David Hockney, artists whose work changed the world of art. But I think that creativity is connected to something much bigger about Yorkshire itself, the landscape, the industrial heritage and the character of the people here. There’s a toughness, honesty and creativity to Yorkshire that has always inspired artists, and you can really feel that at YSP.

What I’ve always loved about Yorkshire Sculpture Park is that it feels welcoming to everyone. It’s Europe’s largest sculpture park, with more than 90 sculptures set across a stunning historic listed landscape, but at the same time it’s somewhere local families have been coming to for years. People come to see incredible art, but they also come to walk the dog, get some fresh air, bring the kids for the afternoon or meet friends for a coffee. You don’t need to know anything about contemporary art to enjoy it, and that’s part of what makes it such a special place.

Over the last eight years I’ve been director of Towner Eastbourne on the south coast, and one thing I always believed there was that culture works best when it feels connected to everyday life. During my time there we hosted the Turner Prize and won Museum of the Year, which was fantastic, but the thing I cared most about was making sure local people felt proud of the gallery and felt it belonged to them.

That’s exactly how I see YSP as well. Of course it’s an internationally important cultural destination, but it’s also deeply part of Yorkshire life. It plays a huge role for schools, young people, artists and the local economy, and it gives people a real sense of pride in the region.

With the park’s 50th anniversary coming up in 2027, it feels like an exciting moment for YSP. There’s already such an incredible foundation here, and I’m looking forward to building on that while making sure the park stays open, welcoming and ambitious for future generations.

Most of all, though, I’m just excited to be back in Yorkshire. There’s nowhere quite like it. I’ve missed the warmth, humour and straight-talking nature of Yorkshire people, not to mention proper fish and chips, the best curry and a decent pub. It feels brilliant to be coming home to start this next chapter.