We are delighted to have received Arts Council England and One Community funding to launch a new MakerWorld offer for young people in Huddersfield town centre.
The MakerWorld Gallery will provide a high-quality cultural programme for children and young people with visual art, film, music and dance workshops, exhibitions and an indoor skatepark. We will include a programme of exhibitions, installations and creative workshops for children of all ages, focusing on widening access and building community bonds through joyful creative endeavour.
The new children’s art gallery will support Kirklees Council’s place-making agenda and the revitalisation of the town centre by providing a vibrant, family-friendly cultural destination.
The gallery – which has been trialled in the former Toyland shop in Huddersfield’s Piazza Centre – is designed for children, families and educators, recognising the vital role art and creativity plays in child development and community wellbeing.
Our vision is a children’s art gallery and creative hub which will offer extraordinary encounters and interactive experiences that encourage hands-on engagement with art. It will be an inclusive space where young people from all backgrounds can participate, inspiring future creatives and democratising culture.
The year-round programme will include Drift Tricks’ skateable sculptures, while artists will facilitate community responses to the work, enabling children and young people to be artists and collaborators.
Our parents tell us how happy they are to find creative activities that support family bonding, increase their child’s confidence and get them away from screens and they have long been asking us to extend the offer to teens. A children’s art gallery, creative hub and skatepark will increase regular engagement with visual arts and this aligns with the creative industries’ significant contribution to the UK economy, generating more than £124 billion annually.
The official launch will take place on Sat 19 April from 11am as part of the Creative Piazza’s Spring Garden celebration.