Arts and Regeneration

The Arts and Regeneration Unit creates opportunities for local people to take part in the   cultural life of their city.

The team is positioned within Leeds City Council’s Arts and Events service and is based at Leeds Town Hall.  The team structure diagram is available to download in pdf format from this page.  The major functions of the Arts and Regeneration Unit fall into four main areas of work

Arts Development

Support for organisations working with the arts in communities including the arts@leeds Grant Scheme and the Black History Month grant scheme.

arts@leeds Grant Scheme

The arts@leeds grant scheme is managed by Arts Development Officers within the Arts and Regeneration Unit. The team offer support and guidance to arts organisations, while administering the arts@leeds grant aid programme.

Applications are welcomed from non-profit making organisations involved in arts and cultural activities in the community. Work may include workshops, festivals, exhibitions, performances and publications. We work to a wide ranging definition of the arts and priority is given to applications which show evidence of local demand, fill gaps in current arts provision and demonstrate that they are effectively delivering work in the community. 

The deadline for applications for the funding year 08/09 has now passed. Application forms and guidelines for the year 09/10 will be available to download from this page in November 2008 for a submission date of January 2009.

A list of organisations funded by arts@leeds 08/09 is available to download in pdf format from this page. 

Who can apply:

Applications are welcomed from non-profit making groups/organisations involved in arts and cultural activities in the community.  Only one application to the scheme per organisation will be considered.

Who cannot apply:

• Leeds City Council, Education Leeds or ALMOs
• Schools
• Individuals
• Closed membership groups whose activities do not reach a wider public
• Students in full-time education or student-led groups
• Uniformed youth groups
• Organisations resident outside the UK
• Profit making companies or commercial organisations
• Organisations delivering the majority of their work in schools in school hours (in terms of either time or resources) or organisations whose primary purpose is to deliver schools or curriculum based work

For more information please contact Mags McLeary, Senior Arts Development Officer, on mags.mcleary@leeds.gov.uk  or (0113) 395 0678. 

Black History Month

Black History Month is a national initiative, held every October in Britain to commemorate and celebrate Black African and Caribbean history.

Black History month small grants scheme
In Leeds, communities are encouraged to take part by organising projects or events with the aid of these small grants, of up to £300

Main aims and objectives:

• to spread knowledge and awareness of Black history and cultural heritage
• to raise the profile of positive contributions to British society

Who can apply?
Community or voluntary organisations committed to implementing projects or events for Black History Month.  

What can the grant pay for?
The grant can be used towards the cost of room hire, publicity, speakers, trainers, activities and events celebrating and marking Black History Month. 

The 2008 funding round has now closed, but the 2008 Black History Month flyer is available to download from this page.

For more information please contact Jennifer Rhodes, Arts Development Officer, on  Jennifer.rhodes@leeds.gov.uk  or 0113 247 6419.

Passion and Pride

Passion and Pride was an exciting, innovative and creative partnership project which included performances, exhibitions, and workshops to celebrate black heritage and culture in Leeds during 2007 to commemorate the bi-centenary of the abolition of the transatlantic slave trade. Twelve local community organisations came together to develop Passion and Pride throughout the year in partnership with Leeds City Council's Arts and Regeneration Unit.

The partners built on the momentum established through the international Black History Month (BHM) celebration, which has seen a regular programme of African and Caribbean events and activities become established around the world. The twelve organisations saw an opportunity to develop their own work further and to widen awareness and understanding of their diverse histories, heritage and cultures. The programme complemented the range of BHM grant aided work being undertaken with support from Leeds City Council’s Equalities team.

Passion and Pride was supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund and Leeds City Council.

The Passion and Pride Resource Pack is available to download in pdf format from this page.

For more information please contact Jennifer Rhodes, Arts Development Officer, on Jennifer.rhodes@leeds.gov.uk  or (0113) 247 6419.

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Arts Projects

Regular projects and cultural events including Get Creative, Holocaust Memorial Day and Bright Young Things. 

Get Creative

This project offers young people aged 10-16 the opportunity to take part in a programme of workshops fusing theatre, visual arts, dance, film and music during the summer holidays. Get Creative actively engages young people who lack opportunities, are at risk of exclusion or who live in areas where there is little arts-based provision.

Participants are recruited through an extensive network of key workers and organisations within the voluntary and public sectors.

Holocaust Memorial Day

This year's civic commemoration event took place on Sunday 27th January 2008 with the theme of ‘Imagine…remember, reflect, react’, which provided a focus for people to remember the past and reflect on the racism and intolerance which exists in society today.

Hosted by the Lord Mayor of Leeds, the day included a keynote speech from Rev. Dr. Simon Robinson, FRA, Professor of Applied and Professional Ethics at Leeds Metropolitan University, and spoken tributes were made by members of local faith groups.

In addition, students from Priesthorpe School in Farsley performed a piece of dramatic theatre, which they themselves created in response to their feelings surrounding the Holocaust.  Entitled ‘Painting a Picture, the theatre piece was the result of a series of workshops that the youngsters participated in alongside Theatre Company Blah Blah Blah. A musical backdrop was provided by The Adel Primary School Choir and the Magenta String Quartet.

Next year’s Holocaust Memorial Day will take place on 1st February 2009.

Bright Young Things

A unique annual project that enables young musicians and bands to get an unrivalled step up on the ladder in the music industry. Following an application and selection process, we pick musicians with talent and potential and offer them free studio recording time and professional photographs, set them up with gigs, introduce them to industry experts, give them press and media coverage and promote their music through distribution of the BYT compilation CD.

For further information contact Tanja Thomson, Senior Arts Project Officer, on  tanja.thomson@leeds.gov.uk  or (0113) 247 5948.

Or visit the website at www.leeds.gov.uk/BYT/

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Breeze International Youth Festival

Combining the work of schools, community groups and international guests, Breeze’s programme of performances, workshops, sports and arts in June and July annually adds up to one of the biggest youth festivals in the UK.

The first Breeze International Youth Festival (BIYF) was held in 1996. Over the 12 years it has been running, Leeds City Council has worked with over half a million young people across the city. The festival is a celebration of young people and their work, as well as a good opportunity to let them know about all the great year round projects and opportunities that the council provides.

Combining the work of schools, community groups, national and international guests, the festival programme of performances, workshops, sports and arts adds up to the biggest youth festival of its kind in the UK.

While continuing to offer high-quality opportunities for every young person in Leeds to try out new activities through school-based taster sessions and studio-based workshops, this year’s BIYF also included a high-profile outdoor Celebration Weekend.

From Friday 27 to Sunday 29 June, prime sites such as Millennium Square, Victoria Gardens and Briggate hosted a jam-packed schedule of creative, arts and sports-related installations, shows, fun activities, outdoor performances and general celebrations.

For more details, log on towww.breezeleeds.org.uk/BIYF

For further information please contact Ann Wishart, Senior Breeze Officer, on ann.wishart@leeds.gov.uk or (0113) 247 8049.

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New cultural initiatives

Additional projects, often externally funded including Light Night, Gallery 37 and Crime and Punishment. 

Light Night: 10th October 2008

Light Night is an annual cultural event based on European models such as Nuit Blanche and Notte Bianca.  The concept involves opening up city centre venues that are normally closed at night in order to host a range of cultural events, displays, shows, exhibitions and tours.

In 2005, Leeds became the first UK city to host a Light Night event. In 2008, Light Night is set to become a national phenomena based on the model that the Leeds team initiated, with other cities hosting their own events.

On Friday 10th October 2008, 50 indoor and outdoor city centre venues will be filled with spectacle, participatory entertainment, projections, and magical, sinister, surreal fun.

Light Night in Leeds is a showcase for the full range of creative activity in the city, with involvement from Leeds-based organisations of national and international repute such as the West Yorkshire Playhouse, Northern Ballet Theatre and Leeds Metropolitan University right through to local emerging arts groups, students, individual artists and the public themselves, who will all be playing a part.

The event now makes use of over forty venues in the city centre. As well as the established cultural mainstays such as galleries and theatres, the event takes over libraries, places of worship, public squares, shops, bars, barges, graveyards and prison cells, bringing a carnival of creative activity to unexpected spaces and thus shedding new light on the city centre for a night.  In 2007, the combined venues received in excess of 20,000 visits throughout the night, and we expect this to continue to grow year on year.

For more information and a full list of events, venues and artists, please visit www.lightnightleeds.co.uk

Or contact James Hill, Senior Arts Project Officer, on james.hill@leeds.gov.uk  or (0113) 247 8234.

Gallery 37 Plus

The Gallery 37 Plus project is an intensive youth arts summer programme which gives young people the chance to find out what working in the arts sector is really like and opens up routes to training and employment. It is aimed at young people 16-24 who are not in education, employment or training.

For more information, please contact Gallery 37 Plus Co-ordinator Samantha Blackburn at samantha.blackburn@leeds.gov.uk

The Gallery 37 Plus 2007 Report is available to download in pdf format from this page

Crime and Punishment

Crime and Punishment is an exciting project supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund and Leeds City Council. The Victorian courtroom and police holding cells within Leeds Town Hall have been developed so that people of all ages can visit this unique space. We offer a learning package for schools, which includes a guided tour in authentic Victorian dress. We are also open to the public on selected dates.

The courtroom has been used as a innovative venue for author events and recently featured a sound installation as part of the Evolution festival. The courtroom is also available for hire and has been the backdrop to a number of court scenes for television dramas.

For more details about the learning package, or dates when we deliver public tours, please contact Jane Zanzottera, Cultural Heritage Learning Officer, on jane.zanzottera@leeds.gov.uk or (0113) 395 2309. To enquire about hiring out the space, please call (0113) 245 0222.

Contacts