Showcasing emerging talent across the city of Leeds
Across our campuses, creativity is celebrated, nurtured, and shared with the wider community. We champion early-career creatives and students through exhibitions, performances, and cross-disciplinary competitions, providing platforms for fresh voices to be seen and heard.
At the heart of this is BLANK Gallery, run by the School of Creative Arts. The gallery, alongside its accompanying publication, showcases new contemporary creative practice in Leeds. It offers emerging artists the opportunity to exhibit their work, while the publication invites other creatives to respond – sparking a living dialogue between artists, audiences, and ideas. The gallery hosts four annual exhibitions at our Quarry Hill campus, each highlighting the talent and ambition of rising creatives.
Creativity also took centre stage in the “Let’s Hear It Then” competition, delivered in collaboration with Leeds 2023: Year of Culture. Staff and students submitted original poetry, song lyrics, and rap, with over 100 entries reviewed. Twelve finalists – representing both students and staff – were selected to perform and exhibit their work at the Leeds 2023 Hub, alongside student-created exhibitions displayed in public venues and online. The competition celebrated the diversity of voices across disciplines and demonstrated the creative energy thriving across the group.
Our commitment to emerging talent extended into the public realm during Leeds Light Night 2023, where the Quarry Hill campus hosted a series of striking installations created by staff, students, and professional artists. Among them, lighting, design, and production students built the Leeds Litter Letter installation – a large-scale interactive piece encouraging audience participation. Visitors brought pieces of colourful litter to add to the artwork, transforming waste into a collaborative creative statement and showcasing how art can engage communities while exploring important themes.
Through these initiatives, we continue to elevate new voices, celebrate emerging talent, and connect creative work with audiences across Leeds, ensuring the next generation of artists has the opportunity, visibility, and confidence to flourish.
