Wallace & Gromit exhibition opens in Prestons revamped Harris Museum

Wallace and Gromit are back in Preston. On Sunday, Oscar-winning animator Nick Park cut the ribbon on the newly refurbished Harris Museum, also launching a temporary exhibition titled A Case at the Museum, which has built a life-size version of Wallace and Gromit’s living room. 

The opening marks the end of a four-year, £19m transformation and the start of a brand-new chapter for one of the city’s most iconic buildings, recognising one of its most iconic creatives. In an interview with the BBC, Nick Park said: “It’s like a dream walking into your own creations, which have always been very small, so it’s quite an extraordinary experience to see it all - to actually be in the world of Wallace and Gromit.” 

For Park, it’s also a full-circle moment. “I grew up in Preston and the Harris Museum was always a real centre-point of life,” he also told the BBC. "With my siblings, mum and dad, we'd often spend a day here looking around and it was always so interesting - all the artefacts and the history of the area, what had been found in the area and the paintings."

"I never would have dreamt it. My grandparents, who inspired all the sets and everything - they'd be very proud."

Preston City Council leader Matthew Brown said the reopening was “everything” to the city after years of delays and setbacks, adding the project was about handing something “to our community for the next few generations.”

Councillor Anna Hindle, Cabinet Member for Culture and Arts at Preston City Council, also said: "The response has been absolutely overwhelming.

"Seeing families discovering Wallace's recreated living room - based on Nick Park's grandmother's Preston home - and children's faces lighting up as they explore the animation techniques behind their favourite characters, this is exactly what we envisioned when we embarked on this transformation."

The Harris first opened in 1893 and now houses art galleries, a library, and fresh exhibition spaces. Officials hope the revamp will boost annual visitors from 350,000 to half a million. And with Wallace and Gromit now making themselves at home, it seems Preston has gained a crowd-puller worthy of one of the city’s most famous sons.

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Header image credit: Preston City Council