A fascinating new partnership project has begun to weave together the histories of female textile workers in Leeds and Shanghai through the power of Chinese opera. To coincide with celebrations for Chinese New Year, the project has seen Leeds Industrial Museum team up with researchers at the University of Leeds to explore the commonalities between the women who toiled in textile factories and on production lines thousands of miles apart. Entitled Song of the Female Textile Workers, the online exhibition sees six…

A project giving budding curators in Leeds the chance to work with one of the country’s top contemporary art collections has scooped a prestigious industry award. Leeds Art Gallery’s Youth Art Collective received the Volunteers for Museum Learning award for Yorkshire from The British Museum and the Marsh Christian Trust during an online ceremony attended by some of the country’s most celebrated museums and arts institutions. Through a series of innovative events, sessions and workshops, the Youth Art Collective gives…

He was the heroic abolitionist who escaped slavery on a US plantation and came to Leeds to spread a message of freedom and equality. Now a thought-provoking new display paying tribute to the extraordinary life of Fredrick Douglass has been unveiled at Leeds City Museum as the city marks Black History Month. Telling the story of one the most prominent African American figures in the campaign to end slavery, the display describes how Douglass became a fugitive from a plantation in Maryland in 1838, eventually starting a new…

Black History Month is a very important time where we celebrate the history and achievements of black contributions to the UK. Iconic buildings were illuminated to mark the start of activities to celebrate Black History Month in Leeds. Leeds Civic Hall, Leeds Town Hall, and Leeds City Museum were lit up as the city began a programme of events to recognise the achievements and contributions of people of African and Caribbean heritage and encourage people to learn more. Events and presentations will also be held this month…

A 500-year-old checklist detailing the complete contents of Temple Newsam House when it was first built has gone on display in an exhibition exploring centuries of life above and below stairs. Compiled for Thomas, Lord Darcy, thought to be the house’s first official resident, the fascinating inventory would have served as comprehensive stocktake of his palatial new home back in the early 16th Century. Remarkably well-preserved, the document is one of the key exhibits in Below the Salt, a thought-provoking exhibition by…

Singers and performers from Leeds are being asked to help capture the sound of a city as they collaborate on a beautiful new series of musical mosaics. The imaginative idea will see submissions by musicians, choirs and spoken word artists from all around the city synchronised as part of a stunning soundscape at Leeds City Museum later this year. The Sounds Good installation will look to explore the impact music can have on mood and will also include a piece created by with people living with Dementia which has been…

The Leader of Leeds City Council and executive member for culture, Councillor Judith Blake, has responded to an announcement from government that £1.57bn will be made available to help Britain’s arts, culture and heritage industries tackle the ongoing impact of coronavirus. Leeds has a thriving arts and culture sector from individual artists to nationally renowned museums and arts organisations and with creativity taking place in estates, classrooms and on stages. The broader creative industries provides for over 22,000…

An innovative grants scheme has helped cultural organisations in Leeds generate more than £56m for the local economy in just one year, new figures have revealed.   The Arts@Leeds project, run by Leeds City Council, gives arts organisations across the city financial support to create exciting events and activities in venues and communities. Now evaluation looking at the impact of the project over a year has found that the 41 organisations which received Arts@Leeds funding in 2018-19 generated a total of £56,799,450 of…

The newly-formed trust that will spearhead a game-changing cultural investment programme for Leeds is set to get the official backing of the city’s senior councillors next week. Members of Leeds City Council’s executive board will be asked to approve a formal grant agreement with the Leeds Culture Trust, sparking an ambitious, four-year programme of activity culminating in Leeds 2023, a landmark new city-wide celebration. The council’s support will also allow the trust to appoint key team members as well as beginning…

Billed as “a game of skill and chance for dairy farmers”, it’s safe to say board game Grade Up to Elite Cow isn’t exactly a family favourite. The agriculturally inspired game was produced by Waddingtons 1986 on behalf of The British Friesian Cattle Society of Great Britain and Ireland, with proceeds going to their Young Members Association. The object of the game was to gradually "grade up" their dairy cows and get them to pedigree status in just three generations. The bizarre title is one of one of more than 1,000…

Beneath the lavish halls and chambers of Temple Newsam House, a huge network of cellars was once liberally stocked with thousands upon thousands of gallons of beer. Upstairs, 18th-century aristocrats would host lavish banquets and parties where locally-brewed ales would flow freely and guests would raise a toast to kings and queens. Now that extravagant century of celebration will be remembered in a new exhibition exploring the house’s intriguing history of beer, ale and brewing. The Beer exhibition opens this…

In February 2019, to mark the 500th anniversary of the death of Leonardo da Vinci, 144 of the Renaissance master's greatest drawings in the Royal Collection will go on display in 12 simultaneous exhibitions across the UK, including Leeds Art Gallery. Leonardo da Vinci: A Life in Drawing, a nationwide event, will give the widest-ever UK audience the opportunity to see the work of this extraordinary artist. Twelve drawings, selected to reflect the full range of Leonardo's interests – painting, sculpture, architecture,…

Innovative arts organisations making a difference across Leeds’s cultural community are set to be awarded more than £1.7m in vital funding. The latest round of arts Leeds grants will go before Leeds City Council’s executive board next week, with 42 groups and organisations around the city recommended to receive funding as part of the scheme. Members of the executive board will be asked to approve the list of recipients at a meeting next Wednesday (Feb 7), with community theatre, dance, performance and visual arts all…

Museum-goers in Leeds can learn more about the role the city’s diverse communities played in the First World War as part of Black History Month. Leeds City Museum in partnership with The Centre for Hidden Histories will be putting on an exciting programme of WWI themed events to commemorate Black History Month through October. The first event will be Global Perspectives on WWI on Friday, October 21- a study day where people learn more about the history of global communities and what roles they…

Horsforth Music Centre, together with Instituto Cervantes, has launched a new package of Flamenco and Spanish language classes on Saturday mornings. Professional Dancer Luisa Galan, who has trained at the Northern School of Contemporary Dance and the Conservatoire of Dance in Cordoba, Spain, has joined the team of professional music and dance teachers at the centre to deliver high quality instruction in the amazing Spanish art form. There are different sessions for children, adults, beginners and…

From 1915-17, at the height of the First World War, many injured soldiers were nursed back to health in Temple Newsam House’s historic halls. Like other stately homes, the beautiful mansion was used as a convalescent hospital, where nurses would help those injured on the front lines to rest and recuperate. In 1919, Following the war, the house was awarded a certificate recognising the contribution it had made to the war effort. The framed certificate was recently chosen by young volunteer…

Like thousands of men who went off to fight in the trenches of the First World War, Leeds man Leonard Wragby left behind an anxious wife and young child. Keen to stay in touch with them, Private Wragby sent a steady stream of letters back from France, documenting his grueling life in the trenches and his desire to return home to his beloved family. Now those letters, discovered in wardrobe in Leeds more than a decade ago, are on display at Leeds City Museum as part of a moving exhibition which lays…

It’s a mechanised murder mystery machine which has captivated generations of Leeds museum-goers. So when Abbey House Museum’s quirky 1930s penny slot machine finally gave up the ghost, it would have been a crime to let the historic attraction simply gather dust. Luckily, after the machine broke down recently, experts at the Kirkstall attraction searched for the right team of specialists and, after some complex restoration work, the fabulous Murder in the Museum contraption is now back up and…

Newly arrived at Lotherton Hall, this beautiful hardwood credenza was expertly crafted by an esteemed Leeds cabinet maker more than 150 years ago. The superbly made cabinet was recently bequeathed to the estate by Selwyn Barker, a furniture collector who lived near Preston, and was made by Marsh and Jones of Leeds in around 1865. It is made from sycamore and satinwood and decorated with intricate inlays that use of hardwoods including amboyna, purpleheart, holly and maple. Created by Charles…