Bradford Council’s Museums and Galleries Volunteer and Placements team has been presented with the Galleries and Museums Award by the Big Draw Festival.
Following lockdowns and Covid times people were invited to ‘Come Back To Colour’ and take part in The Big Draw Festival back in 2022.
In Bradford people were encouraged to come to Cartwright Hall Art Gallery in Lister Park to take part in a workshop celebrating and finding joy in colours by creating pyramid shaped paper lanterns with Bradford-based artist Morwenna Catt. Those taking part helped to create and decorate different sized lanterns to be used in the annual lantern parade in the park later in the evening.
Bradford Museums and Galleries service was unanimously selected as the winner of one of seven categories in the awards by a judging panel made up of Penny Harris the co-founder of visual arts consultancy Parker Harris, Eric Reynolds the founding Director of Urban Space Management, Matilda Barratt the Director of The Big Draw, and Patrycja Nowak Head of PR & Marketing at Urban Space Management.
The prize for the category is £250 – this will be used to support more creative volunteer engagement throughout Bradford Museums, including The Big Draw 2025.
The award judges said: “Bradford Museums and Galleries excelled in many key areas, particularly in community engagement and creative exploration of the theme. The judges were delighted by the multi-generational participation in the workshop and absolutely loved the beautiful lanterns, noting how joyful they looked when showcased together in the parade. We want to say a huge congratulations once again on your well-deserved award. The competition was incredibly strong, and your work truly stood out.”
Councillor Sarah Ferriby, Bradford Council’s Executive Member for Healthy People and Places, said: “We’re delighted to have been recognised with this award. We know those who took part had a fabulous time creating and decorating the lanterns.
“Taking inspiration from Morwenna’s very distinctive illustrations, those taking part enjoyed experimenting with shapes and colour – splashing it everywhere! It was such a lovely way to welcome people back to Cartwright Hall Art Gallery. And such a tonic to hear the chatter and laughter of the different generations back doing what Bradford does best – getting stuck in, being creative and having a good time.”
This year’s Lister’s Lantern Parade with Cecil Green Arts will take place in Lister Park on Friday 1 November from 6pm to 8pm and people can take part in workshops on the same day to create lanterns before the parade between 11am and 4pm inside Cartwright Hall Art Gallery.
