Wellington Place launches CANVAS, a month-long community arts festival

From April 10 April to 6 May, Wellington Place will transform into a vibrant hub of creativity, showcasing inspiring work by students from Leeds Arts University.

CANVAS aims to highlight the importance of art and creativity as both a form of expression and a legitimate career path. The festival's main attraction is an exhibition featuring six large-scale canvases created by BA (Hons) Fine Art students from Leeds Arts University. These impressive works, crafted in response to an open brief, will be on display at Wellington Central from 10am to 2pm throughout the festival.

Members of the public can also literally ‘make their mark’ on the CANVAS festival through an interactive Collaborative Canvas, also at Wellington Central. The large-scale artwork has been designed by one of Leeds Arts University's students, and will see members of the public able to colour in the canvas, resulting in a large scale community art piece. Additionally, the original artwork design will be reproduced onto postcard as keepsakes for visitors to colour in during their visit or take home as a memento.

The festival will feature a variety of free activities, including:

The PLAY Tent: Local play providers will take over the exhibition space on 12, 13, 19, and 20 April from 10am to 2pm, offering a free open-ended play and craft space for children aged 0+. Inspired by the exhibition, this imaginative space encourages children to explore their creativity.
Art and Print Market: On 2 May from 11am to 6pm and 3 May from 10am to 5pm, Tower Square at Wellington Place will host an Art and Print Market in collaboration with Art House. Featuring up to 30 stalls from local artists and Leeds Arts University students, the market aims to help students establish their personal brand, gain business experience, and explore opportunities to turn their creative practice into a commercial venture.
Art Trail: Discover the Wellington Place estate through an Art Trail showcasing historical art works from the development's popular Artist's Window series.
Interactive Sketch Club: Join local artists on 26 April and 3 May from noon to 2pm for sketch club sessions, where participants can explore student work and respond through their own artistic practice.
In addition, during the festival Leeds Arts University students will also facilitate workshops for local children whose families receive support from Yorkshire Children's Charity.

Sarah Limbert, marketing manager at Wellington Place, said: "CANVAS is a brilliant new addition to our events programme here at Wellington Place, and we are tremendously excited to be launching it in partnership with our long-established friends at Leeds Arts University. We have always been passionate about shining a light on creative talent from the city and beyond, as well as ensuring Wellington Place is a destination for visitors of all ages and we can't wait to welcome people to Wellington Place for what is set to become a popular festival on Leeds's cultural calendar."

Elli Whitefoot, assistant careers, employability and enterprise manager at Leeds Arts University, added: “As a university we are extremely excited that Wellington Place is launching this fantastic new arts festival and for giving our early career creatives the opportunity to showcase their work and talents to a diverse, public audience.

“A standout feature running throughout the festival will be the series of large-scale canvasses created by some of our talented BA (Hons) Fine Art students. The open approach to the brief, and to the style and design of the canvasses, means the students have been able to experiment creatively, but with a required focus on the history of the Wellington Place site, and Leeds and the wider Yorkshire region.

“Given the size of the canvases, it has been a challenging project for the artists involved but one that has been very rewarding. It will be really exciting to see the competed artwork in situ, once the exhibition opens in April.”