The fun-filled week involved activities such as pottery, photography, gardening, zine making and sound and video workshops. Each activity was ran by local residents and artists, designed to encourage important conversations about the neighbourhoods and communities we live in.
Hosted by East Street Arts, at Patrick Studios in Mabgate, and funded by Haribo Community Fund, Summer School formed part of East Street Arts engagement and consultation strategy for The
Neighbourhood Plan; a 3-year project between Leeds City Council planning divisions, local residents, businesses, and East Street Arts, to establish and support a Mabgate, Lincoln Green and Burmantofts Neighbourhood Forum.
The Summer School was a chance to work with local young people and discuss with them the changes they would like to see in their neighbourhood. This was important to us as Forum Members must be 18+, therefore this can exclude the voices of younger generations.
Through activities like clay-sculpting, recording videos with green screen technology, games, gardening, photography, zine-making, map-making and language exchanges we began to understand what changes the young people wanted to see in their neighbourhood, as well as what they loved about where they live and what makes their neighbourhood a home. These activities were made possible with the support of artists, facilitators and local organisations like Matilya Njau, Hannah Platt, Toni-Dee Paul, Sable Radio, Burmantofts Senior Action, our Forum members and Leeds City Council.
The Summer School concluded with a public open-day on a Saturday morning, attended by the
young people and their families, community members, Forum members, and key stakeholders involved in the development of the area, to showcase the activities and artwork the young people had created.
And we have some very exciting news…My Neighbourhood Plan Summer School is returning THIS summer! Find out more and book your place here.
You can also read the full Summer School Evaluation report here, and check out the Summer School Zine below.
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.