MUSEUMS in the region are taking part in an arts and heritage project which sees contemporary installations set up to attract visitors.

One of the most spectacular will be this month's collaboration between the Dales Countryside Museum at Hawes and artist David Murphy, originally from Newcastle, who is a regular visitor to Swaledale where he has family.

His work, Spear, will see an architectural-scale copper spearhead installed on Semerwater in the Yorkshire Dales, which will be illuminated over the nights of Friday and Saturday, October 28 and 29.

The installation will reach 40 metres across the lake and be connected to the shore by a floating walkway. Visitors will have the chance to explore the artwork and view the landscape from the lake.

Spear celebrates one of the museum's treasures and will recall myths and legends connected with Semerwater.

“Visitors to the Dales Countryside Museum will know that one of its most precious objects is a Bronze Age spearhead found on the shores of Semerwater in 1937," said the artist. “According to folklore, a city once existed on the site but a curse sent it deep beneath the water."

His work reflects elements of Sir William Watson’s The Ballad of Semerwater, which recounts the tale of the lost city, and makes a physical link to treasures the lake has bestowed on the area.

“In a way we’re returning the spearhead to the lake where it was discovered and where it may, thousands of years ago, have been given as an offering,” he added.

The installation forms part of the UK’s Museums at Night festival. Music, readings and special performances will tell the story of Semerwater and its mythical past.

David Murphy is known for his sculpture and drawings and is the current holder of the Kenneth Armitage Foundation Fellowship.

He said: “I’ve visited the area since I was a child and it’s one of the reasons I was drawn to working with Dales Countryside Museum. They’ve been hugely supportive, especially given the scale and ambition of the project.”

The Meeting Point project by Arts&Heritage sees nine new contemporary art installations at four museums in the North-East and five museums in Yorkshire during 2016.

Funded by Arts Council England’s Museum Resilience Fund, it presents new art commissions in unexpected places and has given small and medium-scale museums the opportunity to commission artists to create a piece of work in response to their venue.

The project aims to bring new visitors to museums and position them as exciting places to see contemporary art.

Others taking include Head of Steam at Darlington, Kirkleatham Museum at Redcar, Ripon Workhouse, Shandy Hall at Coxwold, in North Yorkshire, Durham Castle and the Pannett Art Gallery, Whitby. Artists are respectively: Cath Campbell, Grennan and Sperandio, Catherine Bertola, Anne Vibeke Mou, Jo Coupe and Pippa Hale.

Spear takes place at Semerwater from October 27-29; for more details, visit www.dalescountrysidemuseum.org.uk.