The arts and regeneration team is part of our arts and venues within libraries, arts and heritage. Arts and regeneration aim to:
- Create opportunities for local people to take part in the cultural life of the city
- Support local artists and arts organisations working in communities
- Promote partnership working within the arts and cultural sector
These aims are met through the administration of the arts@leeds grant scheme, supporting, training and advice to Leeds based artists as well as the promotion of activities by our team and the council.
The aim of this page is to keep you updated on arts events and activities throughout the year.
Current Exhibition:
As part of the new programme of Town Hall exhibitions, photographer Edd Mullins is displaying his work on the West Yorkshire Police: Operations Division.
This exhibition aims to show the work of one of our essential public sector services. To create the collection of photos Edd shadowed seven different units over a period of 18 months. The exhibition is divided up into sections showing the work of the different units, such as the mounted unit, the armed unit and the motorway unit and provides an insight into the daily working life of the West Yorkshire Police.
Leeds Town Hall is one of the finest examples of Victorian Civic architecture in the world and in the past year sections of the building are being used as an artspace.
The exhibition runs until Friday 30 December and is open from 9.30 - 4.30 Monday to Saturday and is free.
Leeds Inspired Grants scheme
Leeds Inspired is the city’s new annual cultural programme that offers a pick-n-mix of creative inspiration from across Leeds. Launching in Spring 2012 it will feature mainstream events alongside fleet-of-foot D.I.Y happenings and community-led projects to create a cultural calendar bursting at the seams. The Leeds Inspired website will be a place to help people share events, projects and activities. The full website will be live in mid-February. A Leed Inspired grant scheme has been launched to support organisations to build on or create new work for the city’s vibrant cultural programme. You can download information about how to apply here.
arts@leeds grant scheme From the 2012/13 financial year, arts@leeds grant scheme will be administered on a three year cycle. The plan follows a similar change to three-year funding streams by the Arts Council nationally, giving organisations greater stability and ability to plan their programmes for a three-year period rather than having to reapply each year with the same approach. The aim is for the new system to come into place from April 2012 with the first set of grants running until March 2015. Organisations would be able to bid for funding under new application criteria which follows the councils drive to be inclusive to all and make the city the most dynamic in the country, with a strong focus on finding and developing young talent. Information regarding the new format for arts@leeds will be sent to all current arts@leeds organisations will feature here from November.
Arts projects and cultural initiatives
As well as supporting and partnering arts organisations to develop work, the arts and regeneration team organise and co-ordinate a wide range arts projects and annual events. Creative activity has a crucial role to play in social, cultural and urban regeneration. We aim to increase residents' participation in the cultural life of the city and to raise young people's aspirations. The range of activities offered by arts and regeneration address these specific local needs. We provide new opportunities where they are few and reach brand new audiences across the city through an annual calendar of arts projects and cultural events, including Holocaust Memorial Day, Breeze International Youth Festival and Light Night.
Breeze International Youth Festival - Wed 30 May – 10 June 2012
The Breeze International Youth Festival is an annual festival aimed at young people in Leeds aged 13 – 19. The festival has been a staple of our year round activity for young people for over 16 years. The aim of the festival is to help young people attend, participate in and contribute to the creative activity in Leeds and beyond through encouraging and celebrating achievement.
The work of Breeze is focused around the Breeze Youth Promise - that every young person should have:
- Somewhere to go
- Something to do
- Someone to talk to
- Something to say
Breeze Culture Network - Join and Connect
The Breeze Culture Network is the networking site for anyone working with young people in Leeds. Register at BreezeCultureNetwork.org and connect with cultural organisations, schools, community groups and artists through our comprehensive directory, keep up to date with cultural opportunities in Leeds via our targeted mailing system, plan key events using the shared calendar and publicise your open events onto the BreezeLeeds website for young people in Leeds.
www.BreezeCultureNetwork.org
Our partners
We would like to acknowledge and thank our partners for helping us to deliver such a valuable and broad range of opportunities to the people of Leeds. You can find links to many of the organisations we work with and provide support and funding to on the right-hand side of this page. We are always looking for new ways to encourage participation in the arts and promote partnership working so if you have an idea please talk to us. When it comes to the arts in Leeds we can support you to make things happen.
You can receive arts sector updates and information for arts organisations by signing up for the quarterly arts@leeds e-newsletter, which can also be downloaded from this page. To subscribe, please send your name and role/interest in the arts to arts@leeds.gov.uk.
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