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…

Leeds Art Gallery has said a temporary farewell to a celebrated Yorkshire favourite. Dual Form by Barbara Hepworth has been transported the short distance to the University of Leeds while the gallery is closed for major roof repairs. The sculpture was bought from the artist by Leeds Art Fund back in 1967 and has been part of the collection at Leeds Art Gallery ever since. The loan is part of Leeds Art Gallery’s ongoing commitment to make the collection accessible when the gallery building is…

Decorative and glamorous, Temple Newsam’s silver epergne fittingly once belonged to a celebrated Paris socialite. The dazzling centrepiece was made by Thomas Pitts in 1759 and is a particularly ornate example of a type of table decoration which became the height of fashion in the middle of the 18th Century. Crafted in what was known as the chinoiserie style, the piece is in the form of a Chinese pagoda or garden pavilion, complete with upturned eaves, hanging bells, pierced baskets and dishes.…

More than seventy years of memories and nostalgia have been brought together for a new exhibition celebrating growing up in Leeds. The Decades of Youth exhibition launches at Abbey House Museum tomorrow (July 30) and features a series of vintage objects and images from around Leeds, spanning seven different decades. Items that will be on display include 7” vinyl records, Leeds Festival posters, hats from the old Schofields department store on the Headrow, a pair of rollerskates from the 1970s,…

A weird and wonderful collection of objects seized from smugglers is being revealed in an exclusive museum Twitter tour next week. The bizarre array of exotic items includes a crocodile head ashtray and a stuffed mongoose in the grip of a hungry snake and was mainly found during raids and searches by UK customs officers. Currently in storage at the state-of-the-art Leeds Discovery Centre, the objects are part of a collection on long-term loan from HM Revenue and Customs, which also includes ivory…

World-renowned artist Ashley Jackson will get some inspiration from the beautiful grounds of Temple Newsam during a special watercolour painting demonstration. Visitors can join the famous painter in the Picture Gallery at the historic Leeds house on August 4 at 11am , when he will give a demonstration while talking about his love of the Yorkshire countryside. The demonstration will be one of the highlights of Temple Newsam’s current ‘Visioning the Landscape – Temple Newsam 1622-1922’ exhibition,…