How Kew Gardens promoted Henry Moore: Inside an art exhibition PR campaign
- maxwell museums
- May 30
- 8 min read
What's the secret to good exhibition PR? How do cultural organisations execute a successful press campaign? Kew Gardens' Senior Press Officer Sarah Farrell — who led the press campaign for the Henry Moore: Monumental Nature exhibition — gives me all the answers.
This interview first appeared in the maxwell museums newsletter in May 2026
Summer doesn’t officially begin until this coming Monday, but The Times’ Chief Art Critic Laura Freeman has already picked her show of the season. “Pack a picnic, lace your boots, wear sunscreen” is her advice. The destination? The brand new Henry Moore exhibition at Kew Gardens.
30 monumental Moore sculptures have been brought together across Kew’s 320-acre site, for the largest and most comprehensive outdoor showcase of Moore’s work to date.
“A single visit wasn’t enough to do justice to this mighty gathering” Freeman said. “Surely this is the show of the summer?”
The Times’ five-star review was joined by others. And the reviews joined the news stories, TV packages and photo opportunities that made up the exhibition’s extensive press coverage since it was first announced in July last year. At one point a few months ago, it seemed like every one of the 30 sculptures had its own personal press campaign, such was the coverage of the transportation of these beloved works.
So how does a monumental exhibition get such a monumental press campaign? It’s not luck, as I find out with today’s interviewee.
Leading the Henry Moore: Monumental Nature press campaign has been Sarah Farrell, Kew’s Senior Press Officer. Since joining in 2021, she’s worked on promoting the Gardens’ creative programming and exhibitions (as well as indulging “an unhealthy obsession with flowers of all shapes and sizes” she told me).
So in my quest to bring you art world from all angles, today’s chat dives into one of the most important levers of success for exhibitions: the media campaign. Here Sarah reveals the true value of critics’ reviews, how the volatile news agenda is a constant threat, and she gives some tips for small cultural organisations who don’t have dedicated PR but would like to land a story or two.
Hi Sarah. So Henry Moore is now open! How was the exhibition opening — are you pleased with how the exhibition has landed?
It’s been so wonderful and hugely rewarding to see the show land so fantastically after working on it for well over a year! It’s been something we’ve all been eagerly anticipating here at Kew, so it’s so great to see the culmination of everyone’s hard work and collaboration — and I’ve loved seeing how much interest it’s been getting from media from all over the world too.
What were some of your main aims with the media campaign for the Moore show?
From the beginning of the campaign, it was clear that we really had to find some impactful, newsworthy story hooks which would be media friendly — so being able to say that this exhibition is the largest ever outdoor show of Moore’s work has been a great tool for that. It also really is a-once-in-a-generation event to be able to experience something on this scale in such a unique setting, and that was one of our core key messages too.
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Moore is so well known, so it was very important to highlight what is new and special about this exhibition compared to what people may have experienced of his work previously. Focusing on his lifelong connection to nature and how he drew inspiration from the natural world throughout his career allowed us to tell a different kind of story — particularly when weaving in Kew’s living landscape and the work which goes on here to understand and conserve nature.
You did lots of work on capturing the physical transportation of the sculptures. Why did you focus on that?
Visual storytelling always felt like a natural fit for this exhibition, given the size and scope of the sculptures, and the contrast which they offer with some of Kew’s iconic architecture.
The wonderful team at the Henry Moore Foundation got the ball rolling with some incredible shots of the artworks returning to Perry Green (Moore’s Studio & Gardens) last November, then we picked the baton up when everything arrived at Kew.
I worked with a few agency photographers to capture some of the installation process which resulted in some fantastic national and regional coverage. Working closely with the curatorial and technical teams during the installation was key, and I’m always so grateful to everyone who helps us make these moments happen — especially the patient photographers!
What were some of the challenges with this media campaign?
One of the biggest challenges has been the news agenda being so saturated and unpredictable, particularly with space for arts stories being increasingly squeezed and the London arts scene in particular being so busy.
However, that can also strangely be an opportunity too — I find that it sometimes helps me to think more strategically about where to focus my efforts, particularly when considering outlets who work to shorter lead times, for example with TV news crews and broadcast media who have to be more reactive.
Why does Kew put on temporary exhibitions?
Our programme of temporary exhibitions, led by the wonderful Creative Programming team here, is designed to give people a reason to visit the Gardens above and beyond the incredible horticultural and seasonal interest which Kew is so known for.
These exhibitions and events also allow us to tell stories about Kew’s work more broadly — for example with our annual Orchid festival, which draws inspiration from specific countries or regions of the world and allows us to focus on our scientific and conservation partnerships in those places.
There’s also an ambition that these exhibitions will help us to illuminate something about Kew or the natural world which might be surprising, new or engaging for our visitors.
For instance, last summer we premiered Of the Oak by Marshmallow Laser Feast, an audio-visual installation which took visitors beneath the bark of one of our most spectacular oak trees in a fresh and innovative way. Similarly with Monumental Nature, it really does offer a fresh perspective on both Moore and Kew Gardens, which always feels like a good place to aim for.
The show has received a number of 5-star reviews. How important are critics and reviews to your campaigns — and to the success of a show?
They are undoubtedly a huge boost in terms of creating buzz around a show, particularly in the opening weeks and in a very crowded landscape of launches.
As Kew’s arts offering has evolved, they have become increasingly significant, and we’ve been very lucky to have had some critical success over the last few years which has helped in terms of engaging new audiences. More than that, the critical acclaim also feels like wonderful (and very deserved!) recognition for the incredible curatorial team who put everything together, particularly Sebastiano Barassi and Laura Bruni at the Henry Moore Foundation.
How does social media factor into your press campaigns — are influencers playing a greater role in your job?
Across all our campaigns, we collaborate closely with our wonderful colleagues in the social media team to ensure that the stories we’re telling on our owned channels are aligned and work well with the angles we’re pitching to media.
Influencers are a core part of our planning and the media landscape more broadly, particularly in terms of reach and allowing us to connect with audiences in the moment and in a more immediate way.
Having said that, I think the hallmark of a good campaign is something which strikes a good balance — particularly with something like Monumental Nature which has mainstream appeal and spans generations in terms of potential audiences.
Some readers will work for institutions that don’t have dedicated PRs and they will need to try and generate press coverage themselves. What are your top tips for crafting and pitching a story to the media?
Think about your USP. What makes your story unique? Is it the first time something will be on display? Does it shine a light on something completely new? Does it connect with a bigger moment or cultural event?
Also, timing is everything. Media are constantly having to do more with less and dealing with a news agenda which is rapidly changing. It’s worth thinking carefully about when you send your pitch or press release, keeping it short and sweet with digestible information and headline details to start with.
Similarly, consider if there’s a social-first angle which you could offer, or an element of exclusivity which could work well, whether that’s the first run of a story or a behind-the-scenes glimpse which wouldn’t be available otherwise.
Any favourite pieces of coverage in the Henry Moore campaign?
I think probably the package which we did with BBC Breakfast — and not only for the drone shots of the artworks in the Gardens! Working closely with the wonderful team at the Henry Moore Foundation, the crew had very special access to Henry Moore’s home and interviewed Mary Moore [Henry Moore’s only child].
It was a great way to tell the story of the artistic process. So much of what people think of when they think of Moore is about the size of his work, so illuminating the intricate details of how those sculptures started was fascinating — and this is something which people can learn more about in the [accompanying] gallery exhibition at Kew too.
The package also aired throughout the day of the press launch on BBC News bulletins and got picked up for the radio over the opening weekend, which was truly more than I was expecting. It always feels like such a rare treat these days to have that level of airtime and resource in terms of a reporter and crew.
More personally, I am really pleased that we were able to collaborate with the Working Arts Club to offer access to the exhibition a few weekends ago too.
What are your next projects we can look forward to?
We’ve got some amazing After Hours events happening to tie in with the summer solstice, so I’m busy thinking about how we tell that story — perhaps a ‘sunset’ outside broadcast is on the cards!
Our team down at Wakehurst are soon to launch Henry Moore and more which will also be wonderful to see, with three contemporary artists showing work alongside four further sculptures by Moore in their incredible landscape in West Sussex.
Finally, anything that we haven’t covered that you’d like to end on?
Only that this really has been a huge exercise in collaboration — from the incredible team at the Henry Moore Foundation, to the media team at Kew who have stepped in to help me with so much of the activity.
It’s probably the best and most rewarding thing I’ve worked on in my career to-date, and really is a very special show. So please do come and see it if you can.
Henry Moore: Monumental Nature runs at Kew Gardens in London until 31 January 2027
