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Time and time again, visitors ask about the why and how of the sculpture gallery.

No matter how clearly we set out in our brochure what the Het Depot foundation does and why, apparently many questions remain. Sculpture Gallery Het Depot does a lot, but is not easily categorized in the 'sculpture world' of today.

Everyone lauds the sculpture museum in Wageningen, but we ourselves prefer to say that we are not a museum. After all, building a collection is not our goal. Furthermore, what museum is willing to sell or divest its collection? And why do we only focus on torsos and fragments of the human body? Does that make us a gallery? No, because we also do not aim to sell all of Het Depot's sculptures. We don't have any sculptures on consignment either, so maybe we are a museum? We want to aid sculptors, give them a leg up: that sounds like a gallery. "So are you a sculpture garden?" No, because we have decided to take on Het Depot's gardens, the Hinkeloord and De Dreijen arboreta, because the former Wageningen University Forestry gardens featured and still feature so many beautiful and precious trees. "So just a tree garden then?" Yes and no. We cherish the garden, and the garden is a beautiful space for sculptures. But you will have to discover them on your own.

"But the old Villa Hinkeloord has been so beautifully restored, and the Het Depot buildings feature such outstanding architecture. Do the architecture or the monumental buildings take center stage?" They do, but above all we are focused on people.

The Utopa Foundation, which makes the Het Depot Foundation activities possible, has always focused on people. And in Het Depot, those people are the sculptors. A leg up or a little support where needed or wanted. So that they are able to develop themselves further. We commission work that is not 'easy to sell'. The reason for that can be the size, and thus cost, of a sculpture, but also because some sculptures are not in fashion at a certain point in time. We create and publish monographs and provide sculptors of torsos and fragments with scholarships. The torso fits our mission. It is a particularly human figure and leaves room for imagination. And of course sculptors benefit from a high-level platform. Yet we do not want to focus exclusively on the museum and gallery public.

We specifically look for groups of people we could please with the sculptures in Het Depot. Whether those people have considerable purchasing power is irrelevant. Especially those who can not so easily or often come look at art: children, students, the blind, the elderly or people with disabilities.
 

You'll understand by now that Het Depot is not only about sculptures, but above all about people. People take center stage. For people by people.