Perry to potter up to Yorkshire for hide and seek

The Yorkshire Museum was one of 10 venues which won a public vote to get a famous contemporary artist to visit for the Museums at Night event in May.

Ceramicist Perry, who was made a CBE at Buckingham Palace last week, agreed to come to York after being impressed with the idea for teddy bear themed event as part of the Connect10 competition.

Gaby Lees, assistant curator of arts and learning of the York Museums Trust, which runs the museum, said: “Grayson Perry is one of the world’s most famous potters.

“His teddy bear, Alan Measles, features in many of his works, with Grayson often describing him as the God of his imaginary world. We put the idea of having a giant game of teddy bear hide and seek with bears in our collection to Grayson and he liked it so much he named us in his shortlist of museums he could visit.

“Our bear campaign really seemed to capture the imagination of people and we would like to thank everyone who voted for us.

“We will now work with Grayson to plan the fabulous teddy bear themed free event, which will take place in May.”

Now in its sixth year, Museums at Night is the annual night-time festival of arts, heritage and culture in which hundreds of museums, galleries and historic spaces all over UK open their doors for a host of special events.

Nick Stockman, project manager for Museums at Night, said: “The Connect10 competition has really captured people’s imagination. The response has been fantastic and the lengths the UK’s museums and galleries have gone to attract votes has been astonishing.”

“We have had naked flash mobs in Hastings, a water-themed comic strip, costumed superheroes and a former Welsh international rugby player in Swansea all galvanising the public to vote for their favourite venue.”