With its unmistakable sloping stance and famous winning smile, it’s one of the city’s most instantly recognisable ancient exhibits. And over the summer holidays, history-lovers can find out the real story behind Leeds City Museum’s legendary wonky wolf as the site takes visitors back through time to the age of mythical creatures. The lopsided lupus will feature in a new family-friendly trail around the museum over the holidays exploring how objects in the collection link to some of the most enduring tales from across…

It’s an historic conservation project that’s sure to strike a chord with music lovers all across Leeds and beyond. Leeds Town Hall’s one-of-a-kind organ, which has been part of the city’s heritage for more than 160 years, is set for some major restoration work designed to protect and preserve it for future generations. One of the largest of its kind in Europe, the towering 50 foot-high organ was designed by noted architect Cuthbert Brodrick and famously played at the opening ceremony of Leeds Town Hall, attended by…

A colourful collection of work by prolific designer Sheila Bownas has found a new home in Leeds as part of a quest to see her celebrated as a leading light in 20th Century creativity. She was the little-known Yorkshire artist whose eye-catching creations encapsulated the wave of optimism which swept across post-war Britain. The Sheila Bownas Archive, includes 188 works on paper, many of which would have been used in textiles and fashion or on popular wallpapers that were used to decorate people’s homes. The collection…

Arts and cultural organisations in Leeds are set to get some crucial extra support to help them bounce back from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Leeds City Council’s Arts@Leeds funding scheme provides grants to more than 40 arts groups and venues, each playing their part in delivering a huge programme of exciting, city-wide cultural activity. Now every current Arts@Leeds recipient will be given an added financial boost to help the hard-hit sector recover and rebuild as they make plans to continue entertaining and…

The arts and culture sector in Leeds is set for a significant post-COVID recovery boost thanks to successful bids for important grant funding.

A remarkable image captured more than 120 years ago has revealed the bizarre day Leeds residents constructed a huge archway from bread to welcome an aristocrat. The half-baked idea is just one of thousands of the city’s unique stories ready to be discovered in the newly-relaunched Leodis photo archive managed by the Leeds Libraries service. Taken in 1894, the photo shows the enormous arch built from a staggering 1,500 loaves of bread along Commercial Street. Residents built the arch to welcome George V, then Duke of…

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…