Dulwich Picture Gallery has completed a \u00a35m development that includes an interactive space for children.<\/p>\n
The south London gallery is holding a range of public activities on 6-7 September to celebrate the completion of the project, which includes new landscaping. There is also a revamped and extended Gallery Cottage that will be used for school lunches as well as a family cafe and shop on weekends.<\/p>\n
The ArtPlay Pavilion was designed by Sarah Marsh and Stephanie Jefferies of Hold Collective, which has created immersive environments for children at Tate, Whitechapel Gallery, Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester Art Gallery, Yorkshire Sculpture Park and the Hepworth Wakefield.<\/p>\n
Play activities in the sensory-rich enivironment have been inspired by the gallery’s collection of historic paintings.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have been testing things here for years, so we knew that this is what we needed,\u201d said Jennifer Scott, the director of Dulwich Picture Gallery<\/a>. \u201cWe already have a fully subscribed art education programme for children here, but we knew that there was an opportunity to do something a little bit more playful.<\/p>\n \u201cWe first opened our doors in 1817, and it was a brand new thing to have a purpose-built public art gallery,\u201d Scott continued. \u201cAnd what drives us now is the idea that art for everyone.<\/p>\n \u201cOur founders were pretty quirky, and that quirkiness is in our DNA, and so it feels nice to do things that are unexpected, surprising and fun. But actually, as the project has developed, it had felt like a necessity \u2013 something that has been much needed for us and our audiences.\u201d<\/p>\n