Twenty Years of the Feiweles Trust

I was honoured to be approached by Muriel Feiweles to be a founding Trustee of the Joe Feiweles Memorial Trust and, along with the family and fellow Trustees, attempted on limited resources to plan an approach which would not only provide a memorial to an important member of our community, but also provide a positive cultural contribution to children and to Wakefield. Another aim was to provide support to young artists who would work in schools and other locations, sharing their passion, skills and commitment with younger and older learners. Each year a different discipline would be considered, which has resulted in an amazing opportunity for the Wakefield District and its schools to benefit from painters, sculptors, dancers, musicians, writers, filmmakers and others. Teachers also relished this opportunity to expand the learning experiences of their children and the cultural contribution made to the school.

Yorkshire Sculpture Park has always worked closely with the Trust and now it has come to an end after twenty successful and rewarding years, YSP is pleased to continue with its vital work of introducing children and teachers to artists with the YSP artist-in-schools programme. This publication provides an insight into the work and achievements of the Feiweles Trust.

Joe Feiweles was a man of great vision and integrity. He arrived in Britain by boat at Dovercourt with his younger brother on 30 November 1938. They came from Breslau in Germany (now Poland) in the first 'kindertransport', triggered by 'Kristallnacht' on 9-10 November, which Joe described as 'the most traumatic night of my life'. Initially they lived in a holiday camp on the East Coast. From this troubled background he developed a strong, positive approach to life based on learning, sharing and a creative approach to education. As deputy head of the old West Riding Library Service he masterminded one of the largest lending libraries in the world and established a system which was admired nationally.

- YSP's Founding Director, Peter Murray, CBE.