Leeds Art Fund

Public Art has been an important and much loved feature of the University of Leeds campus since 1923, when the controversial First World War memorial by Eric Gill was installed. More recent examples include Converse Column by Liliane Lijn, commissioned for the NEXUS building in 2019, or A Spire by Simon Fujiwara, commissioned for the Laidlaw Library in 2015. Art on campus enhances the experience of students, staff, local communities and visitors, reflecting the academic research themes and learning activities of University life.

The University of Leeds has a unique campus, boasting Victorian red brick wings, Brutalist concrete suites and domestic terraces adapted for academic use.  There is even a cemetery, St George’s Field, in its midst. Public art is carefully curated as an integral part of the University’s programme of refurbishing and adding to its built landscape. Art on campus responds to this physical context, as well as to what the University represents, as a site of knowledge production, research and discovery.

Join curator Layla Bloom to visit a variety of public artworks in open spaces and foyers across campus, and explore the fascinating stories behind these artworks – their creators, patrons and placement on campus.

Following the walk we will visit the textile exhibition at the Stanley and Audrey Burton Gallery in the company of Jill Winder curator of ULITA, the Archive of International Textiles. The exhibition features highlights from the collection of world textiles which includes examples from the 18^th, 19^th and 20^th centuries.