Moving Stories - Plan Text version

Moving Stories

Wakefield Museum

From 6 February 2023

Free Entry

Wakefield Museum is getting ready to move! 

We are developing an exciting new Library & Museum in the former British Home Stores (BHS) building in the heart of Wakefield city centre, due to open in 2025. As we prepare for the big move, we want to celebrate our story so far and we need your help to write the next chapter.

For more on the new Library & Museum project, click the following link: https://wakefieldmuseumsandlibraries.blogspot.com/p/a-new-wakefield-library-museum.html

Launching in the museum’s centenary year, Moving Stories is a vibrant, interactive exhibition. Join us for a look back at the stories we’ve told over the last 100 years. Discover the new stories that we’ve been hearing. And tell us your own story.

Take a peek behind the scenes and find out how we plan to turn an empty, old department store into awe-inspiring museum galleries. Let us know what you would like to see in the new venue. Be part of the story as we work together to create something special for the Wakefield district.

Click or copy the following link for visitor and access information at Wakefield Museum: https://www.wakefield.gov.uk/museums-and-castles/wakefield-museum.

The new Library & Museum is funded by the government’s Levelling Up Fund and Wakefield Council. The project is part of the Wakefield City Masterplan, which aims to deliver improved facilities for residents. 

For more information on the Wakefield City Masterplan, click the following link: https://bit.ly/WFMasterplan

Moving Stories features exciting new illustrations by West Yorkshire artist, Tom Bailey.

Tom Bailey is an artist from Leeds who draws pictures to make things easier to understand. He often attends events, listens to people and draws what they say. Tom also illustrates books and makes murals. 

Click or copy the following link to access more of Tom's pictures on his Instagram @mrtombailey: https://www.instagram.com/mrtombailey/

Here's descriptions of what are in some of Tom's drawings going into the Moving Stories exhibition:

1. A cartoon-style drawing of the storyteller's great-grandparents doing sign language, with the tagline "my great-grandparents founded Wakefield Deaf Society in the 19th century".
2. A cartoon-style drawing of the storyteller planting a tree at Minsthorpe School as a child in 1977, with the tagline "I planted a tree for the silver jubilee and it's still there!"
3. A cartoon-style drawing of the storyteller working at Wilkinson's Liquorice Factory, stamping pomfret cakes, with the tagline "I used to work at Wilkinson's liquorice factory - it was hard work"
4. A cartoon-style drawing of the storyteller's uncle laying bricks at South Elmsall fire station, meeting and saying hello to a woman with love hearts appearing between them, with the tagline "My uncle found love whilst building South Elmsall Fire Station".

Here's descriptions of some photos of the exhibition:

1. A young visitor drawing their own cartoon with the colourful exhibition in the background
2. A young visitor looking into a display case full of assorted objects exploring '100 years of collecting'
3. A cartoon-style drawing by Tom Bailey of 'My dad used to run The Albion Cinema in Castleford' and the text accompanying the Wakefield Storytellers section
4. Visitors watching a time-lapse drawing of boat launches in Knottingley
5. A young visitor with headphones on watching the Restoring Dennis video
6. A visitor putting ribbons onto a pole to indicate what topics they want to see in the new library and museum