Museum turns spotlight on natural diversity on Earth Day

SUNDERLAND Museum & Winter Gardens (SMWG) is one of more than 500 museums across the UK taking part in The Wild Escape, a project to inspire young people to visit local museums and respond creatively to the threat to the UK’s natural environment.

The Wild Escape is the largest ever collaboration between the UK’s museums and has been organised by the Art Fund in partnership with the WWF, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, the National Trust and English Heritage.

It aims to inspire children to visit museums and respond creatively to the threat to the UK’s natural environment and biodiversity by looking for animals featured in museum collections and creating their own wildlife artworks.

On Earth Day, Saturday, April 22 an epic scale digital artwork will be unveiled featuring the animals imagined by children all over the country, inspired by the collections of hundreds of UK museums.

Leading artists are supporting the project by creating their own artworks based on animals in museum collections to inspire children to take part. They include FKA Twigs, Es Devlin, Heather Phillipson, Rana Begum, Mollie Ray, Yinka Shonibare, Tai Shani, Claire Twomey and Mark Wallinger among others.

Jennie Lambert, Learning Manager at Sunderland Museums, said: “Pupils from Hudson Road Primary School have been working with artist Stephanie Smith and writer James Whitman to draw animals from our Museum collections and illustrate the journeys of their escape to natural habitats.

“On Earth Day between 11am and 3pm at SMWG, visitors will be able to see displays of the pupils’ artwork and poems, and take part in creative activities and tours to find out more about how we can protect and support local wildlife.

“There’ll also be a wild walk in Mowbray Park to spot wildlife and find out about some of the dangers facing local wildlife.”

Jenny Waldman, Director, Art Fund, said: “514 museums all around the UK have come together to deliver #TheWildEscape and show the power museums have to inspire children and young people to co-create an artwork to help animals, birds and insects escape the museums and return to their natural habitat.

“The young people develop their creative skills and their understanding of the importance of our wildlife and the future biodiversity of our Wild Isles.”

According to a report by the Environment Agency published in July 2022, England is one of the most nature depleted countries in the world, with impacts accelerating since the mid 20th century. The impacts on species have been severe, with a quarter of mammals in England and almost a fifth of UK plants threatened with extinction. A third of British pollinator species have declined.

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