This is a one-off fund provided by the Weston Family to support cultural organisations during Covid-19 to restart important work and rebuild audiences following closures during the pandemic.
The Garfield Weston Foundation received many applications, and has granted over £30 million to more than 100 cultural organisations across the UK. The Trustees were particularly impressed by the entrepreneurial approach and creativity shown throughout the pandemic by these applicants and in the ways East Street Arts and the other recipients have adapted and engaged audiences and communities.
East Street Arts will use this funding to continue development work on Convention House, a newly acquired building which is a designated arts and technology hub and remained under-utilised due to the covid-19 lockdown, with an aim to take the next step in developing and building on the digital technology needs of the organisation which have changed and become more urgent due to the pandemic.
The funding will allow the team to install a set of integrated arts and digital learning labs to enable them to test new ways of delivering learning, both remotely and in-person as well as providing the tools to run virtual residencies for artists; provide research and development opportunities and enable collaborations for artists and technologists and create new virtual programmes that engage artists and audiences across geographical boundaries.
Karen Watson, Artistic Director at East Street Arts said: “We are thrilled to have received this support thanks to The Garfield Weston Foundation and are confident the fund will aid us in the safe opening of Convention House and will ensure that East Street Arts is digitally ready to serve its diverse demographics of artists, participants and audiences.”
Other things!
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Artists
I'm Gonna Find You White Rabbit! by Silvia Liebig
Silvia Liebig's artist book I'm Gonna Find You White Rabbit!: Being Beeston Projekt 2019-2023 is now available to buy.
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Event
Reproductive Futures: Creative Workshop
Join artist Herfa Thompson and academic Zoe Tongue to explore your reproductive health experiences, responding to the duo's Reproductive Futures exhibition, in this visual art workshop.
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News
Welcome to our new trustees
We’re thrilled to welcome two new trustees to our Board following a recent round of open recruitment.
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News
Artist selected for Taipei artist residency
Leeds-based artist James Thompson has been selected for a sought-after six-week residency at Treasure Hill Artist Village in Taiwan, from August to September 2024.
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Commission
Making Public Art - a new interview series
We worked with some wonderful artists throughout 2023 to bring large-scale mural pieces to various locations across Leeds. We’ve been catching up with the artists, in a new series that looks at working with communities, sustainability, and their working process in creating public art.
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Artist support
No Going Back: exploring the archives
Here are some of our favourite images from last month's No Going Back exhibition, for anyone who may have missed it.