A moodboard based on colourful plastic objects from around the home from the 1900s, with shads of yellow, blue, green, pink and red drawn out

Commission opportunity: tactile interpretation

Thursday, April 09, 2026

Wakefield Museums and Castles seeks to commission accessible tactile interpretation for Wakefield Museum's Special Exhibitions Gallery.

Full information on this page, or download a Word Doc copy of the brief.

About: Wakefield Museums & Castles

Wakefield Council’s Museums and Castles service is responsible for managing three museums in Wakefield, Pontefract and Castleford, and two designated Ancient Monuments, at Pontefract and Sandal Castles. We are fully Accredited under the Arts Council England Museum Accreditation Scheme. We care for a collection of around 112,000 objects. These document the human, social and cultural history of Wakefield and district from the distant past to the present day.

Our aim is to work in partnership with communities to tell stories that unite them in creative and innovative ways. We aim to deliver the highest quality exhibitions, learning and events, based on our museum collections. These are in welcoming, family friendly spaces that are close by and have free entry.

A child looking at a nature park recreated in paper sculptures through binoculars

The A World of Good gallery at Wakefield Museum - credit Nick Singleton

The brief

Wakefield Museums and Castles is now inviting costed proposals to produce tactile interpretation for our next special exhibition at Wakefield Museum.

'Plastic Fantastic?'

The ‘Plastic Fantastic?’ exhibition will explore the history, impact, and future of plastics, their role in our lives and their effect on our planet. The exhibition will feature a wide range of 3D objects, showcasing Wakefield Museums and Castles’ nationally renowned collection of mid-twentieth century plastics. The plastics collection is colourful, playful and nostalgic. The exhibition will juxtapose this visual and vintage appeal by encouraging discussion and debate about the role and impact of plastics, particularly amidst the climate crisis.

The exhibition will cover key themes including:

What is plastic?
Early plastics and the development of plastic
Single-use plastic
Looking after plastic
Reuse and recycling
Future of plastic

With a particular focus on plastics in the home, the exhibition will feature objects in recreated domestic settings, including the kitchen, living room and bedroom with objects including:

utensils and appliances
media and entertainment
toys and games
fashion and cosmetics

The exhibition will be inclusive and accessible, interactive and multi-sensory. Its target audiences include:

Families, particularly the Frontline Families audience segment
Young people, particularly those with an interest in contemporary issues such as the climate crisis
People with an interest in design, particularly the mid-twentieth century
Schools and colleges, particularly STEM and art and design subjects

The 'Plastic Fantastic?' exhibition mood board

Access to Exhibitions Grant

The ‘Plastic Fantastic?’ exhibition is kindly supported by an Access to Exhibitions Grant from The Exhibitions Group.

This funding will support us to pilot several new accessibility improvements. This includes tactile objects, labelling and wayfinding. New BSL interpretation will be created, complemented by D/deaf awareness training for our team.

More about our Access to Exhibitions Grant

Tactile interpretation

We are looking to commission a supplier to work with our team and lived experience community groups to design and produce tactile interpretation and wayfinding for the ‘Plastic Fantastic?’ exhibition.

The interpretation should provide meaningful engagement especially for blind and partially sighted audiences and support these visitors to independently access and enjoy the exhibition.

The interpretation should include:

4 to 5 durable, high touch tactile models/replicas/interpretations of key objects from the exhibition, fully produced and ready for install. These should be approx. 200mm x 200mm footprint, subject to discussion between the supplier, project team and lived experience groups. (Please see Appendix in the commission document for example objects and provisional gallery layout.)
Complementary tactile labels with high contrast print and braille
1 tactile route map, anticipated to be located at the entrance to the exhibition in the Museum Welcome Space (size, format and location to be discussed with our team and lived experience community groups)

The resources should be made with sustainable, recycled and recyclable materials as far as practicable.

Wakefield Museums and Castles will lead consultation with lived experience groups such as Wakefield District Sight Aid and the West Yorkshire Sight Loss Council. The appointed supplier will be expected to contribute to this process by attending consultation sessions where appropriate, responding to feedback, and iterating designs throughout development. The museum team will manage relationships with lived experience groups and support coordination of engagement throughout the project.

In partnership with our team, the supplier will be expected to:

Contribute to the selection of objects for tactile interpretation
Develop and refine approach, format and design in response to consultation feedback
Work with the project team to determine placement and integration in the gallery
Test and refine designs based on feedback during development

Budget

There is an available budget of around £2000 (exclusive of VAT) for this project.

This is indicative and subject to discussion between the supplier and Wakefield Museums and Castles project team.

Project management

The successful supplier will work closely with Wakefield Museums and Castles staff, who will retain overall editorial and curatorial control.

The project team will include the Curator, Exhibitions Officer, and Senior Officer: Curatorial & Exhibitions.

The contract will be managed by the Senior Officer: Curatorial & Exhibitions.

Timeline

The supplier will be appointed by end of April 2026. The ‘Plastic Fantastic?’ exhibition will open to the public on Monday 20 July 2026.

Initial consultation with lived experience groups: May 2026
First concepts and designs shared for feedback: early June 2026
Final designs signed off by the Wakefield Museums and Castles team: mid-June 2026
Completed resources delivered to Wakefield Museum: week commencing 29 June 2026
Installation in exhibition gallery: weeks commencing 6 and 13 July 2026

This timeline is indicative and is subject to change as agreed between the supplier and the Wakefield Museums and Castles project manager. 

How to apply

Please email swebb@wakefield.gov.uk with:

A quote
Initial ideas and concepts of the tactile interpretation, including proposed materials and production methods
At least 2 examples of relevant previous work

Details of any relevant experience working collaboratively with people with lived experience (if applicable)

Deadline for quotes is 9am on Monday 27 April

Contact

For further information about this opportunity, please contact:

Steph Webb, Senior Officer: Curatorial & Exhibitions

swebb@wakefield.gov.uk

07917 790931

Appendices

You can find more information, including example objects, gallery layouts and the moodboard in the Commission document.