I know that I am not artistic and not particularly cultural. However, having seen the publicity regarding the Yorkshire Sculpture Park and the KAWS exhibit, we finally made our way down to Bretton to see what the fuss was about!
We didn’t particularly plan the trip well, which meant a lot of walking and a lot of piggy-backs. Therefore, if you want to avoid that, definitely park in the main entrance car park!! We parked in the “Country Park” car park and while the walk through the parkland was lovely, if you’re not up for a 3 mile round trip walk, go in the main entrance!!
I think that it is pretty much impossible to see all the exhibits in one go. This is even without children in tow and so we focused on the outdoor KAWS work. These were very popular and you had to wait your turn to have a photo with them. However, it is virtually impossible to have a proper selfie with a giant sculpture!
Likewise, it is difficult, but not impossible to go with a pushchair/pram. As it is all outdoors, you need the weather and paths to be dry. It is certainly not the best place to be muddy and wet with a toddler or baby!! The changing facilities in the cafe were pretty good, although the signage wasn’t brilliant. However, once you find the main car park, there are enough buildings/people around to ask.
So in terms of the KAWS exhibits themselves, they are quite imposing, but also quite fun to look at. A nervous toddler might be scared. However, we had a great time looking and pretending to be them as well!
A couple of the more hidden areas which caught the eye as well were the musical installations near the main entrance. If no-one is using them as you pass, you would never know they are there. However, they are absolutely brilliant and very interactive compared to some of the others (even though they look so appealing to be climbed upon!).
The other one to get big belly laughs from Heidi was the installation with the sinks, toilets, baths hanging 8ft in the air. In the eyes of a toilet training toddler, this was hilarious! She took great joy in running between the various parts of the exhibit and wanting to be lifted up to see what were in the sinks etc!! (I forgot to take pictures of these – d’oh!)
I have seen comments online regarding the price of car parking – £8 for more than 2 hours (which you will need). Yes, in itself, it is expensive, but instead consider it an admission fee which covers everyone in the car, as the park itself is free. You can bring your own food in as well and so you can have a picnic in the sun and enjoy some artwork for £8 for the day, which isn’t that bad all in all.
All in all, we had a good morning out in the sunshine at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park. However, the fresh air didn’t bring about an afternoon nap, which meant that I had an “interesting” afternoon!!
UPDATE: The KAWS exhibit has gone, but there are loads of other good artwork to see.
To read more of my blog, please feel free to:
“Like” me on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/leedsdad (it will make me happy!!)
“Follow” me on Twitter @leedsdad
Email me at: info@leedsdad.com
Go onto my website: http://www.leedsdad.com
and @leedsdad_blog on Instagram!