It’s not every night of the week that a Turner Prize winning artist plays hide and seek with teddy bears inside a museum.
But that’s exactly what will happen when Grayson Perry hosts night of bear themed events at the Yorkshire Museum on May 15.
The bears of York Museums Trust will join the cross-dressing artist Perry for one night only.
It will include family-friendly activities based around the Trust’s bear themed collections and the chance to meet Grayson as he plays hide and seek with visitors.
The event is free and there is no need to book.
But there is a Grayson Perry In Conversation session to be held in the Museum’s Tempest Anderson Hall at 6pm.
Tickets for this are free but do need to be booked as places are limited. To do so visit the Eventbrite page from Tuesday April 22 at 10.30am.
Because of high demand, tickets are limited to two per booking.
The event has been made possible after a record 5,500 people voted for Grayson to come to York for the Connect 10 Museums At Night, organised by Culture 24.
“We are really looking forward to welcoming Grayson and his bear Alan Measles to York for this very special event,” said Gaby Lees, assistant curator of arts learning for York Museums Trust.
“He is very keen to come and see our collections and share his thoughts and ideas with the people who voted to bring him here.
“We hope people will get in the spirit of this teddy bear gathering and bring their own bears along to join the party.”
How the night will unfold
May 15, 2014, 5.30pm Grayson officially opens the museum for the evening. Members of the public will be invited to seek out bears from the Trust’s collections, which will be scattered around the various galleries.
York College students have also been busy making their own bears and these will also be on show in the museum and gardens.
Other activities include, making clay bears, making costumes and dresses for your bear, listening to bear themed tales in the storytelling area, learning about woolly bear moths, face painting and a catch a salmon game.
Visitors can also visit York Observatory to find out how to spot the Great Bear in the night sky and are invited to bring sandwiches and their bear for a teddy bears’ picnic on the lawn.
6pm Grayson Perry In Conversation will start at 6pm in the Tempest Anderson Hall. He will chat to psychoanalyst and psychotherapist Valerie Sinason about his life, work, childhood, play and teddy bears.
6.45pm Grayson will then rejoin the fun and games in the museum, chatting to the public and seeking out the bears.
7.45pm Grayson leaves for London, but the fun will continue at the Museum until 9pm.
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