UK’s largest museum collaboration plans to inspire children

A campaign that will see the largest ever collaboration between UK museums was launched today (24 January) by arts charity Art Fund.

The project, called The Wild Escape, will bring together 500 museums across the country, in a bid to inspire hundreds of thousands of children to contribute to a mass artwork project responding to the UK’s biodiversity crisis.

Children visiting participating museums will be encouraged to respond creatively to animals featured in museum collections by creating their own wildlife artworks. All the artworks will go towards a collective digital artwork, created by immersive games studio PRELOADED, to be unveiled on Earth Day 2023 (Saturday 22 April).

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Speaking at the launch of The Wild Escape at the National History Museum today, Art Fund Director Jenny Waldman said the project hopes to encourage children to reconnect with their local museums.

“The Wild Escape aims to change children’s awareness and understanding of biodiversity loss,” Waldman explained.

“We want to show how museums, by working together, can bring a fresh angle to learning, especially to welcome children’s creative responses to our great collections. We want every child to learn from and enjoy what museums can offer whilst at the same time drawing attention to the threat of biodiversity loss in this country.

“The Wild Escape will show how the UK’s museums can encourage new forms of creativity, encouraging children to take ownership of one of the defining challenges of our lives.”

According to a report from the Environment Agency published last July, England is one of the most nature depleted countries in the world, with around a quarter of mammals and almost a fifth of plants threatened with extinction.

Organisations and charities including the WWF, Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPCB), the National Trust and English Heritage will partner the project.

RSPCB Executive Director Emma Marsh said the organisation is “thrilled to be able to work on such a creative project”.

“We can’t wait to see how children and families engage with that natural heritage through The Wild Escape.”

Nationwide events

Hundreds of museums, galleries and historic houses will host special activities for families to support the project.

Examples of events taking place across the four UK nations include school trips, guided museum tours, poetry, craft and puppetry workshops. Many museums and heritage sites are also planning events aimed at children and families on Earth Day 2023.

Art Fund plans to publish a comprehensive listing service, including a map of all events and activites taking place at participating cultural spaces, on its website.

Events taking place as part of The Wild Escape will run until July and are open to every primary school child to take part in at participating cultural institutions or online.

It is one of the largest museum projects ever funded by Arts Council England (ACE), with funding coming from the National Lottery Project Grants programme.

ACE Director for Museums and Cultural Property Emmie Kell commented: “The Wild Escape is an ambitious project that shows how the collections housed in museums across the country can inspire positive action to help tackle the climate crisis through creativity.”

“I am proud we are supporting it with one of the largest grants we have given to a museum project. I look forward to seeing the artwork created by school children across the country on Earth Day 2023.”