Maltby: Tate masterpieces displayed in lorry in Rotherham car park

Artwork including masterpieces from the Tate’s national collection have arrived in a car park in Rotherham as part of a mobile museum roadshow.

The touring gallery aims to make art accessible to everyone by bringing exhibitions to towns and cities away from cultural hubs such as Liverpool.

David Hockney, Andy Warhol and Vanessa Bell feature in the Soup, Socks and Spiders! Art of the Everyday curation.

The exhibition is part of a 12-week tour.

Learning facilitator Olivia Blyth said it was taking the collection “truly national”.

From 15 to 20 April, the lorry will be based at Maltby Leisure Centre for people to take a look at part of the collection.

Georgie Hewson, who works with Ms Blyth as learning facilitator on the mobile museum, said school groups are also able to take advantage of the visit and get them seeing art in a different way.

Groups will be given a tour around the roads gallery and will then be invited to join creative workshops, to participate themselves in this artistic adventure and share a memento with their families.

At the end of the week, families, neighbours and the local community will be invited to visit the exhibition of artworks made during the workshop sessions.

“I think a lot of these works are concept-based so it’s great to be able to delve a bit deeper with the kids,” she said.

“I think as well, a lot of them haven’t maybe had the opportunity to use some analytical skills so it’s really great to be able to pull out of them these ideas of ‘What stories are going on here?'”

The collaboration is between Tate, as well as international art foundation Art Explora and MuMo mobile museum as part of a 12-week tour.

A number of organisations including Rotherham Museums, Arts and Heritage, Rotherham Libraries, Flux Rotherham and Places Leisure were supporting the visit to the town.

It is expected that this tour into communities will offer a first encounter with art to groups of school children and young people across the region as well as community groups, care home residents and adults from all backgrounds, an Art Explora spokesperson said.