“We’re here to inspire creativity, to help them be creative in small ways in their daily lives, but also in larger ways,” said Newson.
“And also to start thinking about creative careers and the skills that they can develop that might one day lead to roles in the creative kind of industry when they grow up.”
The exhibition will showcase Wallace’s love interest Lady Tottington, the distinctive rocket from Wallace and Gromit: A Grand Day Out (1989), and the duo’s infamous living room set.
It will feature installations from some of the earliest projects the Aardman founders worked on as well as their most recent features.
Set models and puppets from the 2024 hit A Vengeance Most Fowl, which picked up two gongs at the Baftas and was also nominated for an Oscar, will be on display for the first time.
Other exhibits include early character sketches, concept art, puppets, props, set models and optical illusion toys.
Newson said it had been “amazing” working with Aardman over the past 18 months.
“It’s a really rich, kind of dense archive, to have the opportunity to trawl through all of that and pick things across those 50 years is rare and a real privilege,” he said.
“When you see everything come into the gallery and get built and installed, it’s a really exciting moment.”