We felt like excited children when we had our names added to the Walk of Art. Even now we get a kick out of coming and looking at them.
Catherine Dyson and Rob Watson

Our first visit to the sculpture park was on a sunny but cold winter's day.  Most of the time there was spent under clear blue skies but by the time we had reached the Barbara Hepworth section, the sun was getting low in the sky and gave this piece a wonderful golden glow. A very enjoyable introduction to the park and hopefully the first of many visits.
David & Pam Ferris

I just remember opening the car door and the kids bursting out and running free amongst lots of space, art and air. There is no where else that the whole family is so simultaneously content. My dreams came true when Andy Goldsworthy came. All round nourishment!!!
Beth Heaney

Anthony Gormley's Field set against the brilliant green countryside. All the little people watching. waiting. looking.
The almost irresistible temptation to dive into the education section and start building something.

On our honeymoon in Cornwall in 1980, we saw YSP advertised. We took my mother in law there (see photo). It was liberating. We moved from London to Barnsley in 1987 with our son, then 1. We visited all through his life so far. He's returned from college and we often celebrate birthdays by enjoying sculpture.
My mother-in-law, aged 73, 1980. Enjoying greater access to great work.
Rosaline Wyatt

The really disconcerting/exciting moment in the first room of the James Turrell exhibition where you realized that, what you thought was dim light projected onto a wall, was not actually even a wall. It was like putting your hand straight through a solid object. My girlfriend and I were buzzing and excited about it for hours afterwards!
James Hill

In 1995 I came to the sculpture park for the first time as part of a ten day course in Art and Design. We came along to the Park to look for inspiration for our work. It was a beautiful day and I felt uplifted by the atmosphere and stunning beauty of the park. I was particularly impressed by two of the sculptures in the park. The first was a stone sculpture of a mother and child. I couldn't see the name of the artist but the sun was shining onto it and creating some interesting effects of light and shade. I liked the contrast of the smoothness of the skin and the texture of the hair. I also liked the closeness of the two.
The other sculptures which impressed me were those by Henry Moore: the way the parts of the sculpture related to each other, similar feeling to the mother and child. These ideas became the focus for my work- a clay model of mother and child- coinciding with our eldest son going off to university and the feelings involved with this stage of my life. I have been to the park several times since then and recently caught sight of the mother and child sculpture relegated to the woods where groups makes there own sculptures. I felt really downcast!
Thank you for some wonderful experiences.
Sue Long