How Yorkshire Sculpture Park founder Sir Peter Murray has developed the site for artists over 45 years

its status as a significant global centre for sculpture has grown from humble beginnings in 1977, thanks to the vision and tenacity of one man – founding director Sir Peter Murray who retires at the end of March.

Murray was a lecturer in Art Education at Bretton Hall College when he had the idea of starting a sculpture park within the college’s extensive grounds on the Bretton estate.

“I had always been interested in trying to make art accessible and was working with my students looking at different ways in which to do that,” says Murray. “We started to explore the possibility of putting artworks in the landscape for children to look at.”

From there, came the idea of staging an exhibition in the grounds and out of that the concept of establishing a sculpture park began to develop, but it took some determination to make it happen.

“It wasn’t easy to begin with – the grounds of the college weren’t open to the public, there was no money and no real appetite locally for contemporary art,” says Murray. “But the then principal of the college, Alyn Davies, was very supportive.”

They set up a charitable trust in the college and applied successfully for a £1,000 grant from Yorkshire Arts. “Once we got going, there was a sense that this was really worth pursuing because Bretton was a very special place with a very special landscape. I felt it would grow and grow – not to the extent it has, but I did think it had a lot of potential.”

The sculptor Michael Lyons, who died in 2019, was an early supporter. He had a studio in North Yorkshire and was also on the visual arts panel of Yorkshire Arts.

“He wanted to help and, working closely together, we managed to organise the first exhibition. It was a challenge – we didn’t have a huge amount of experience, we had very little money and no staff.”

Nevertheless, they did it, putting together a group show that included work by Lyons, William Tucker, Glynn Williams and Austin Wright, all artists who were connected to Yorkshire in some way.

“There were a couple of reasons for that – we wanted to highlight the Yorkshire connection but also if they lived fairly locally, it was cheaper to transport their work. And the whole inspiration behind our thinking that this was the right location for a sculpture park was because of Barbara Hepworth and Henry Moore, both of whom had been born nearby – we had two of the greatest sculptors of the 20th century right on our doorstep.”

In fact, Moore, who was immediately extremely supportive (“he was very helpful and enthusiastic,” says Murray), donated some money and agreed to become the YSP’s founding patron.

The response to the inaugural exhibition was mixed – while the art world was generally positive and welcomed the idea of a sculpture park, the public were not convinced.

“We got some pretty nasty letters complaining that we were ‘putting rusty metal in the landscape,’ so it wasn’t an instant success,” says Murray, laughing. “When we were starting out, we didn’t have an audience, we had to build it and over the years we have taken the public with us.

"I think the reason we have been able to do that is because we have never had a condescending approach. We have always wanted to make art accessible but we have never made any compromises – we have always tried to bring to Yorkshire the best art we possibly can.”

And over the course of the past four-and-a-half decades, the park has certainly fulfilled that aim. The high-profile artists whose work has been on display, both outside in the 500-acre landscape of rolling hills, woodland, formal gardens and lakeside vistas, and inside in its numerous well-designed gallery spaces, include Tony Cragg, Anthony Caro, Elisabeth Frink, David Nash, Henry Moore, Damien Hirst, Ursula von Rydingsvard, Andy Goldsworthy, Barbara Hepworth, Joan Miro, Sean Scully, Fiona Banner, Ai WeiWei, Sophie Ryder, Rachel Goodyear, Yinka Shonibare, Haroon Mirza, Not Vital and Anish Kapoor. That is quite a roll call.

With many of those artists, Murray has developed long-standing and meaningful relationships. “One of the great privileges has been being able to connect with the artists, visit their studios and work with them on their projects,” he says.

“It’s a very personal experience – and the more you know about the artist and their work, the better the final statement is in the exhibition. It’s very interesting and exciting. You have to invest time in building those relationships until gradually you establish the confidence on both sides to be able to put on a major show. When you embark on a major show here, it is like putting together a large-scale opera – technically it is very complex.”

It’s no wonder that artists are queuing up to exhibit at the YSP – with its stunning natural backdrop, as a setting for artwork it is pretty hard to beat. “Quite often when artists come here for the first time, they are gobsmacked,” says Murray. “This is an inspiring location, there are very few places like this in the world for artists to work in, but you have got to make sure you get the balance right between their ambition and the possibilities.”

After art college and university, before becoming a teacher and arts administrator, Murray was an artist himself. “Initially I wanted to be a painter and I did exhibit quite a bit but I came to the conclusion that I didn’t have the commitment required to be a full-time artist. Then I got really interested in education and I loved teaching.”

Education and learning have been at the heart of everything the YSP has done, which chimes with Murray’s own passionately held beliefs. “I have always believed that arts education makes a huge contribution to society,” he says. “I am extremely grateful that the YSP gave me a greater opportunity to promote that.”

There have been plenty of high points at the YSP over the past 45 years; for Murray, some of the stand-outs include the first International Sculpture Conference they hosted in 1983 (“a turning point”), the Henry Moore memorial exhibition in 1987 (“a huge success”), and winning the 2014 Art Fund Museum of the Year Award (“a defining moment”).

He also considers securing the land to be one of the major achievements – “there were many political battles to fight to establish our right to use the land” – alongside overseeing the design and construction of several award-winning new buildings and converting historic buildings such as the Chapel and the Bothy into distinctive gallery spaces.

Last month Murray was awarded a knighthood by the Queen in the New Year Honours List in recognition of his services to the arts. Typically, he modestly extends the honour to the whole team.

“Although I got the award, it is for all the committed people who have been involved in the development and success of the organisation. It’s been great to receive that recognition – it acknowledges the importance of the YSP to the wider public and the contribution that it continues to make to arts and culture, and the economy.”

One of the things Murray would like to do in his retirement, in addition to travelling, writing and working with the YSP archives, is to revisit his own arts practice. “I have never stopped drawing and painting, so it will be nice to have the time to go back to that,” he says, adding with a smile: “I might even try and see if I can get an exhibition at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park.”

The Yorkshire Sculpture Park is open seven days a week. For details, visit www.ysp.org.uk

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