Yorkshire Sculpture Park has ambition to play a bigger role in region's tourism economy: Clare Lilley

YSP’s landscape was designed nearly 300 years ago, but we’re on the Yorkshire Coalfield and conscious of being part of a county where the natural and industrial landscapes have shaped its people – people who are both productive and down to earth.

Any economist will tell you that a thriving cultural sector is an essential part of what makes a region great and in Yorkshire we’re blessed with brilliant dance, theatre, opera, community arts, circus, and music organisations. In addition to YSP, West Yorkshire has incredible visual art institutions, including Leeds Art Gallery, the Henry Moore Institute and The Hepworth Wakefield. We all celebrate the names and work of Barbara Hepworth and Henry Moore, giants of the 20th and 21st century and, in many respects, Yorkshire is the crucible of modern British sculpture.

Before the pandemic, YSP contributed over £15 million to the regional economy. We continue to employ over 220 people locally and have a thriving restaurant and café, retail space, tenant farming and a small cultural industries complex. It’s a rich mix but it comes with a rapidly declining 18th century landscape and historic buildings to maintain. Our costs have increased massively – energy bills alone have doubled to £300,000 a year – and so we face significant challenges every day. The fundraising never ends.

YSP already enhances Yorkshire’s visitor economy but going forward it’s our ambition to play a much greater role. With LEEDS 2023, Our Year 2024 in Wakefield, and Bradford UK City of Culture in 2025, we have fantastic opportunities to draw more international visits and staycations to the region. YSP has never operated in a bubble and our connection to Yorkshire communities, education and the economy is vital.

Each year our Learning department works with 40,000 people, many of them from the region’s schools and colleges. That’s in part because of the brilliant YSP staff. Their work is all the more important now with many families struggling to cope with the cost of living rises and days out are seen as a luxury. The team are helping to fill a cultural and social void that’s all too often forgotten when times get tough.

We also punch above our weight by attracting incredible British and international artists to the region. They’re drawn by YSP’s exceptional landscape and galleries and, of course, the expertise of our staff – not everyone can move tons of sculpture across 500 acres. This summer we’re showing work by British rising star and Sheffield Hallam graduate Lindsey Mendick whose installation was inspired by the soap Brookside.

As visitor numbers recover post-Covid we expect to attract more people from around the UK and overseas which all helps to keep Yorkshire firmly positioned on the cultural map.

YSP will continue to evolve with the times and always strive to be a natural and ever-changing environment that appeals to anyone. Yorkshire is already famous for its landscape and warm welcome, and YSP is only too happy to continue extending its reach way beyond any county, national or international borders.

Clare Lilley is director of Yorkshire Sculpture Park