Arts Press Releases

Broken//Makeshift is an exhibition that celebrates contemporary craft by finding the beauty in everyday objects. It explores how our emotional attachment to them can survive a break, fracture or tear. The show and surrounding programme highlight modern and historic methods of mending, inviting a conversation about how our relationship to things has changed since the popularisation of mass-production and the recent resurgence of upcycling, repurposing and repair.

Sunny Banks Mills’ Arts Director Anna Turzynski said: “ Broken//Makeshift is an exhibition about objects and how our relationships to them shift and change over time. I wanted people to question the life cycle of things especially at this time of year where gift buying is at the forefront of our minds.

The pieces in this exhibition ask us to reconsider endings, and welcome new beginnings; a tear in a jumper or a crack in a plate doesn’t have to mean the end but can be an opportunity to mindfully mend and repair and make it more precious than before.

She continued: contemporary craft is an amazing vehicle for storytelling and there are lots of playful moments in this exhibition that do just that, like Grace Clifford’s chocolate horses or Abdulrazaq Awofeso’s wooden handbag. I hope that people will leave the exhibition inspired by the skill and craftsmanship on show, and with a renewed desire to fix, mend and breathe new life into their objects and themselves.”

The exhibition features work by acclaimed and emerging artists including Abdulrazaq Awofeso, Amelia Frances Wood, Bridget Harvey, David Fox & Liz O’Connell, Grace Clifford, Isabel Fletcher, Isobel Jane Kimberley, Jo Pond, Megan Preston-Davies, Molly Rooke, Polite Rebellion, Rachel Anzalone, Rosie Vohra, Zoë Hillyard and Zoe Phillips along with a further 18 artists represented in the exhibition’s accompanying Zine Library.

Some of the exhibiting artists have a lived experience of disability or have self-identified with the theme with work that explores the idea of the maker themselves being ‘broken,’ in a bid to further the dialogue around visibility of disability in contemporary craft.

Ellie Harrison, Artistic Director of Polite Rebellion commented: “I’m delighted to be showing Iconic Fatigue as part of Broken//Makeshift at Sunny Bank Mills which has such a rich history of textile production. We hope that Iconic Fatigue can act as a small but public act of repair dedicated to the 250,000 people living with Chronic Fatigue in the UK and the thousands more for whom fatigue is an overlooked symptom of other conditions. We want Polite Rebellion’s work to be bold, beautiful and useful and we can’t wait to share it with the people of Yorkshire and beyond.  It is an honour to be part of such a beautifully curated show alongside amazing artists working in different mediums.”

Exhibiting artists David Fox and Liz O’Connell’s emerging work is a collaboration of crafts that are under threat and facing an uncertain future, particularly the funding and investment in textile and glass skills. They said: “We are artists who met at Sunny Bank Mills Museum & Archive whilst researching independently and have found its archive materials and the Mills’ support invaluable to the development of our work and relationship as artists. We are thrilled to be part of the Broken//Makeshift exhibition showcasing our collaboration which combines glass making and textile weaving. We engage in ideas about heritage and craft skills and our relationship to textiles and the making processes. Sunny Bank Mills is fantastic at supporting artists and makers and it’s a real joy and a privilege to be part of the exhibition.”

Broken//Makeshift is open in the Gallery, Sandsgate Building, Sunny Bank Mills, Farsley, LS28 5UJ, Tuesday- Sunday 10am-4pm until 24^th December. Closed on Mondays. FREE ENTRY.

For more information about Broken//Makeshift at Sunny Bank Mills, visit: https://www.sunnybankmills.co.uk/arts/gallery/broken-makeshift/

Sunny Bank Mills is one of the most exciting and respected cultural and community hubs in the Yorkshire region. It is home to an acclaimed contemporary Art Gallery, a large artists’ studio community, a textile Museum & Archive, and with many other creative independent and retail businesses on site. It’s situated in the heart of the thriving village of Farsley in West Leeds.

 

What happens to a community when industry dissipates? Who tells the stories of working-class life and who listens? Many Hands: Class, Community and the Changing Face of Industry is a bold new exhibition that brings together the voices of working-class artists to explore how shifts in industry, migration, and land continue to shape identity, tradition, and belonging.

Co-curated by Anna Turzynski and Natalie Kolowiecki  from the Gallery team at Sunny Bank Mills and Seren Metcalfe and Chanelle Windas from Working Class Creatives (CIC), the exhibition weaves together historic and contemporary photography to examine the lived experience of class not just as an economic category, but as something felt in the clothes we wear, the meals we make, the words we use, and the ways we carry our past.

Sunny Banks Mills’ Arts Director Anna Turzynski said: “This is the first major photography exhibition held at the Gallery and the quality of the work on show is phenomenal. We are so honoured to host such exceptional talent alongside archival images from the Mills’ collection. What I love most is the immersive mix of photography, installation and film that invites you to engage, share and be inspired.”

Natalie Kolowiecki  added: “The work in Many Hands spans from the 70s to the present, documenting the experiences of communities in Scotland, the North East, the West Country, the Midlands and Bradford. Many of the artists have documented the daily lives of their friends, families and neighbours, consequentially creating an invaluable record of the lives of industrial workers, including many from small communities of Polish, Irish, Caribbean and South Asian people. Others have actively created work to highlight the effects of the gig economy, housing shortages and the cost-of-living crisis.

She continued: “Despite the differences in these photographers’ practices, the work on display in this exhibition tells a collective story of connection, solidarity, joy, resilience, and friendship.”

Seren Metcalfe and Chanelle Windas from Working Class Creatives (CIC) said: “Representing artists from different generations was super important for us, to create a space to critically reflect on the lived realities and resistances of working class communities during and after deindustrialisation.

We are aware of the growing critique that working class life must not only be framed through the lens of loss and hardship. That we need to move past documenting Working Class life in a voyeuristic sense. That we should celebrate our roots and our blooms, and this exhibition responds to that, showcasing lives lived with immense creativity and community whilst refusing to look away from the structures that shaped, and continue to shape, these communities.”

Featuring work by acclaimed and emerging artists including Amber Brown, Czesław Siegieda, Ian Beesley, Joanne Coates, Kirsty Mackay, Kelly O’Brien in collaboration with Devon Osborne, Nudrat Afza, Sean O’Connell in collaboration with Flornicate and Victor Wedderburn,  the exhibition spans generations and geographies, building a powerful, interwoven portrait of life in working-class communities across the UK.

Exhibiting artist Kelly O’Brien said: “Making this work was a reckoning with my own classed history through my family archive, working with photos where smiles mask exhaustion and labour lingers just out of sight. Reworking and reimagining these photographs became a way to make visible what was overlooked: the everyday graft of working-class women. Making this work wasn’t just about nostalgia, it was a form of intergenerational resistance, a way to honour the women who raised and shaped me.”

Exhibiting artist Victor Wedderburn commented: “I’m very honoured to have part of my work exhibited alongside other photographers at Sunny Bank Mills. My photos are of a community in the Lumb Lane and Green Lane area of Manningham Bradford -a mainly Afro-Caribbean community of the Windrush generation as well English and Asian people.  It is a community that sadly no longer exists, as old dwellings were demolished, pubs and cafes were closed.”

Many Hands is open in the Gallery, Sandsgate Building, Sunny Bank Mills, Farsley, LS28 5UJ, Tuesday- Sunday 10am-4pm until 5^th October. Closed on Mondays. FREE ENTRY.

For more information on Many Hands at Sunny Bank Mills, visit: https://www.sunnybankmills.co.uk/arts/gallery/many-hands/

Loops is a collaborative exhibition between Netherlands based textile artists Gea van Eck, Hanneke van Broekhoven and Monika Loster, and Yorkshire based artists Andi Walker, Hannah Robson and Jane Claire Wilson at the Sunny Bank Mills Art Gallery in Farsley, between Leeds and Bradford.

A large-scale collaborative artwork, Loops centres around the theme of cycles, circles and continuums and aims to showcase the artists’ exploration and embracing of the inherent tensions found whilst collaborating.  Many months in the making and many miles apart, this is a truly unique celebration of international collaboration and the lasting allure of textiles.

Sunny Banks Mills’ Arts Director Anna Turzynski said: “Loops is the first international exhibition ever held at Sunny Bank Mills. I am immensely proud that the Gallery has attracted artists of international significance and that they are all working with textiles. It is a testament to our rich textile heritage that the Mills can host such an ambitious exhibition.”

She continued: “In a visual arts context, it is highly unusual to have six artists working together to create a singular artwork. I am so grateful that all six artists have brought such trust, skill and curiosity to the process. I believe the result is remarkable and has totally transformed the Gallery. Loops is contemporary, adventurous, moving and truly worth a visit. This project has given all participants the opportunity to learn and grow, and we look forward to building on our experience and doing similar exhibitions in the future. We are grateful to the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands and Leeds City Council for their joint funding.”

Two of the artists taking part in Loops are Monika Loster and Andi Walker.

Monika Loster is a Polish-born artist based in Amsterdam. Her practice centres on fibre-based works, sculptures and often larger-scale installations built from mesh structures combined with textile elements such as hand-dyed hemp fibres, hessian cloth, rope, and processed tree bark. Monika first came to the Mills in 2023 for a residency, thanks to support from LEEDS 2023, and was so inspired by the ethos and heritage that she experienced that she came back with the germination of an idea that eventually became Loops.

Monika expanded: “The site, and the community that sustains it, draws me back repeatedly. I was drawn to loops of interconnection; how individual actions feed back into a larger whole. From the communal networks at Sunny Bank Mills to the cyclical patterns we see in nature, I wanted to reflect that shared experience. By adding multiple textile layers into mesh structures and layering sculptural elements, I aimed to evoke both continuity and exchange: the way one gesture leads to another, how materials and people influence each other, and how an artwork comes alive through that ongoing dialogue.”

She continued: “What I find most special about Loops is the collaborative process behind our central installation. By weaving our individual works together, we created something that is at once meaningful and playful. Installed in the space between the pillars, it unfolds like an immersive artist’s playground, inviting viewers to explore and engage. Equally inspiring is the diversity of approaches among the textile artists in the show: although we all share a love of fibre, some of us bring highly technical, craft-driven methods, while others focus on sparking dialogue or posing questions for the audience. That blend of technique, concept, and collaboration makes Loops a truly dynamic experience.”

Andi Walker is an artist based in Leeds whose practice falls into three distinct but interconnected fields: materials, ink and cloth. They work with a variety of materials, both hard and soft, and use ink as a medium for drawing and for conceptualising innovative fabrics and garments primarily designed for the human body. Live performances play a crucial role in presenting their work. Storytelling and fostering conversations remain central themes throughout their practice.

Andi said: “My initial inspiration came from the Mills’ connection to textiles and its legacy in cloth production. It was important for me to reference garments and the human body, acknowledging the intimate relationship between fabric and the forms it eventually clothes.”

“One piece in the exhibition is an “unmade suit,” a conceptual nod to the Mills’ history of producing high-end suiting fabric. Although the Mills itself never manufactured finished garments, it crafted the raw materials that formed the backbone of this industry. The unmade suit symbolizes this untapped potential, capturing the tension between creation and absence, structure and fluidity.”

They continued: “Collaboration is at the heart of this project, and it’s been incredibly rewarding to share ideas, push creative boundaries, and find unexpected connections in each other’s work. The process reminded me of the power of collective creativity, where the energy and insights of others spark new directions and deeper meanings in my own pieces.

It’s this blending of voices, histories, and perspectives that makes Loops feel truly special – a celebration of creative exchange and artistic growth.”

Loops is open in the Gallery, Sandsgate Building, Sunny Bank Mills, Farsley, LS28 5UJ, Tuesday-Saturday 10-4, Sunday 12-4 until 6^th July. Closed on Mondays. FREE ENTRY.

For more information on Loops at Sunny Bank Mills, visit: https://www.sunnybankmills.co.uk/loops/

Sunny Bank Mills is one of the most exciting and respected cultural and community hubs in the Yorkshire region. It is home to an acclaimed contemporary Art Gallery, a large artists’ studio community, a textile Museum & Archive, and with many other creative independent businesses on site. It’s situated in the heart of the thriving village of Farsley in West Leeds.

The artists will be at a special event in the Gallery on Saturday 17^th May:  https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/an-evening-with-the-artists-loops-meet-make-tickets-1309764864969

The Artists

The Netherlands

Gea van Eck is a textile artist, born in Leiden. Wool is her medium of choice. After her studies at the HKU (Hogeschool voor de Kunsten Utrecht), she mastered multiple techniques, including painting with egg tempera, printmaking, and needle felting. She has exhibited her work in various international exhibitions and has also initiated unique art projects, such as living and working in a former sex boat on the Nijverheidskade in Utrecht for one week, exploring the relationship between commerce and art. In addition to her work as an artist, Gea is also a teacher.

Hanneke van Broekhoven is an artist based in Nijmegen. She works in a range of media, predominantly creating sculptures from textile and steel. She likes the contrast of refinement and roughness and because the metal structures elevate and support the limp textile elements. Her studio, which she moved to in September 2024, has a forge and she is learning metalwork by doing.

Monika Loster is a Polish-born artist based in Amsterdam. Her practice focuses on fibre-based works, sculptures and often larger-scale installations built from mesh structures combined with textile elements such as hand-dyed hemp fibres, hessian cloth, rope, and processed tree bark.

Yorkshire based artists

Andi Walker is a Leeds based artist, specialising in constructed textiles. Andi’s practice encompasses three key areas: materials, ink, and cloth. They work with a combination of materials, both hard and soft; they draw with ink, and design contemporary garments and costumes using both. Deeply rooted across all areas is storytelling, where Andi explores themes of identity, history, and societal inequalities.

Hannah Robson is a Leeds based artist trained in woven textiles. She combines her technical grounding in textiles with an open approach to research and willingness to experiment with materials and processes which includes hand weaving in the studio and working directly with manufacturers. Hannah was trained in woven textiles and gained a BA from Winchester School of Art including an ERASMUS exchange at l’ENSCI – Les Ateliers in Paris, and an MA degree from the Royal College of Art.

Jane Claire Wilson is a practice led artist from North Yorkshire who creates textile sculptures to explore themes relating to place and space. After working in Education and International Development, Jane completed an Access to Art and Design Course at York College, followed by an MA in Creative Practice at Leeds Arts University. Jane is currently completing a Doctorate in Fine Art Textiles at Teesside University, researching how making textile artefacts creates a narrative of threshold spaces.

Sunny Bank Mills in Farsley is once again opening the doors of its iconic 1912 Mill for the third annual Threads Textile Festival over the weekend of Saturday 17th – Sunday 18^th May, 2025.

Threads Textile Festival will feature a Market with over 50 independent businesses and textile makers on each of the two days, selling everything from quality fabric and haberdashery supplies, wool and yarn, textile kits, clothing, homewares and more. Meet and talk to makers, artists and suppliers from all over the UK and buy direct from them.

There is also an additional free exhibition area at the top of the 1912 Mill, with exhibitors including Alwoodley Quilters, The Northern Society of Costume and Textiles, Bradford College, Malcolm the Weaver and Saba Siddiqui’s interactive installation Defiance My Way which won the People’s Choice Award for the 2024 FUAM Graduate Art Prize. Alongside all of this are free family-friendly drop-in workshops, no booking required.

As well as the Market and free exhibition area, a series of textile related pre-bookable talks and workshops are taking place across the Mills.

The Threads Festival talks programme has an international flavour and roams the world from The Caribbean, to France, The Netherlands and the UK.

Learn about Caribbean craft from Dr Rose Sinclair as she explores the history of crokus bags, their many uses, and their significance within Caribbean culture. Find out about the intriguing history of luxury textiles from textile artist, researcher and teacher Rebecca Devaney. Meet the Dutch and Yorkshire artists from Loops textile exhibition for a unique insight into their process, the chance to ask questions and have a go at making a loop. Discover textile stories from The Quilters’ Guild’s Collection from the Quilt Collection’s curator Heather Audin.

Throughout the weekend, there’s an extensive workshop programme with something for everyone whether you are a beginner, somewhere in the middle or at an advanced level.

Join designer and maker Aidan Liggins and create a block printed lampshade. A fan of rustic mark making? Victoria Merness creates expressive monoprint textile samples. Mills’ resident weaving teacher Agnis Smallwood is offering 3 workshops – a short intro to weaving on a traditional dobby loom; a relaxed and experimental weaving workshop using a postcard to weave, stitch and create onto; a fun session creating a pair of potholders, coffee mug rugs or plant pot mats.

Rebekah Johnston is teaching her straightforward method for needle turn applique; Ria Mathieson of Slow Hands Creative, on screen printing and stitching a wall hanging; Jo Wanner of Tråd Collective on how to repair beloved clothing with a range of sewing techniques; learn the art of wet felting with talented artist Henry Morris; textile artist and researcher Rebecca Devaney shows how to translate text onto fabric using stitch; Pattern Play is a hands-on, high-energy workshop where creativity takes shape, led by designer and senior lecturer Julie Hughes; experiment and explore how to create abstract fibre sculptures with Loops artist Jane Claire Wilson; stitch your own decorative toadstool with fabrics naturally dyed by Kayleigh Davis from Ocre Natural Dye Studio.

Dr Sarah Gaunt, Threads Textile Festival Director, said: “This is our third year of holding a textile festival at Sunny Bank Mills. Threads highlights just how enthusiastic people are about textiles whether that’s shopping for textiles, learning and developing skills or listening to expert speakers. We have programmed this year’s Festival to include something for everyone, whether you are studying textiles or have been sewing your whole life.

Everyone who attends the Festival really appreciates the historic Mills’ setting and the care we take in delivering the Threads experience. We pride ourselves on our attention to detail and that we go the extra mile to ensure that everyone has a fantastic time. Our visitor numbers increase every year which is testament to Threads’ popularity.”

She continued: “It’s not all just happening in the 1912 Mill either. Threads is a site-wide experience! This year our Museum & Archive is presenting a temporary exhibition, Tailored, looking at the skills of tailoring and the diversity of design and construction. It’s a very apt and relevant historical link to the original worsted cloth produced at the Mills.

Excitingly, our Gallery has its first ever international exhibition, Loops. Visiting artists from The Netherlands are collaborating with Yorkshire artists in a large-scale installation. This is a unique exhibition and not to be missed.

Threads promises to be a weekend overflowing with textile experiences so come along and get involved.”

The Sunny Bank Mills Art Gallery, shop and tearoom will also be open where exhibition Loops is a large-scale collaborative artwork by 6 talented artists, 3 from the Netherlands and 3 from Yorkshire, centred around the theme of cycles, circles and continuums. Many months in the making and many miles apart, this is a truly unique celebration of international collaboration and the lasting allure of textiles. In the textile Museum & Archive, temporary exhibition Tailored features work and objects highlighting the skills of tailoring.

Threads Textile Festival: https://www.sunnybankmills.co.uk/arts/gallery/threads-textile-festival-2025/

World Premiere of Memorial Gestures

Contemporary artists respond to Holocaust archive materials in a group show curated and presented by Holocaust Centre North.

6-28 June

The 1912 Mill at Sunny Bank Mills

Farsley, West Yorkshire

PRESS VIEW: THURSDAY 5 JUNE 12PM

Holocaust Centre North – housed at the University of Huddersfield – is proud to announce the World Premiere of Memorial Gestures – its first external group art show and the culmination of three years of its unique creative arts residency of the same name.

Contemporary artists have created new artwork in response to extensive archival collections, survivor testimonies, and objects bequeathed to Holocaust Centre North by 150 Holocaust survivors and their families who made new lives in the North of England. This artwork will go on display at Sunny Bank Mills from 6–28 June 2025.

Over the past three years, fourteen artists – Jordan Baseman, Laura Fisher, April Lin 林森 Maud Haya-Baviera, Irina Razumovskaya, Matt Smith, Ariane Schick, Tom Hastings, Rey Conquer, Hannah Machover, Laura Nathan, Chebo Roitter Pavez, Sierra Kaag, and Nathalie Olah – have participated in this one-of-a-kind, creative initiative launched in 2022 by the Centre. Memorial Gestures gives leading and emerging artists the opportunity to reflect on Holocaust commemoration through artistic and creative practice. The residency has enabled them to immerse themselves fully in Holocaust history through the Centre’s significant Holocaust collection, by talking with survivors and their families, participating in bespoke workshops, and learning from historians and the Centre’s dedicated archivists.

The result is a remarkable, unique and intimate body of work – incorporating works in textile, video, installation, photography, drawing, etching, ceramics, print, translation, found objects, and text. Created by a diverse group of artists who between them represent multiple nationalities, experiences and identities. This exclusive Memorial Gestures group exhibition brings history to life through art from a range of voices inspired by a history that resonates today. Artists were drawn to participate in the residency through personal connections to the Holocaust, through ongoing research disciplines in the subject, or from their own lived and familial experiences of oppression, discrimination, loss, hope and migration.

Featured works include large-scale woven blankets by textile artist Laura Fisher that reproduce in detail family messages from the Holocaust, including a final telegram sent to the family of Michelle Green from her Viennese grandmother who was killed in a concentration camp. Michelle’s family materials are held for posterity at Holocaust Centre North. Artist Matt Smith’s ceramic tiles and photographic collages bring attention to the marginalised subject of LGBT+ experiences of the Holocaust – a subject often overlooked and underrepresented in Holocaust history. Sheffield artist Maud Haya-Baviera draws parallels in her final pieces between her own family history as political refugees and letters held at Holocaust Centre North written by Rachel Mendel and sent from 1930s Germany, urging her parents to flee the country. Textile artist Laura Nathan, herself a granddaughter of Holocaust survivors, explores the experiences of Jewish mill workers in Yorkshire, including at Kagan Textile Works, reflecting on familial trauma, migration and the making and unmaking of fabric and family histories.

Memorial Gestures exhibition has been curated by Holocaust Centre North’s Paula Kolar with generous funding from The Ernest Hecht Charitable Foundation, Arts Council England, The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, and the Henry Moore Foundation.

Kolar comments:

“At Holocaust Centre North, we aim to humanise a history that contains what most of us can scarcely imagine — from unbearable loss, pain, and cruelty to courageous survival — through the preservation of personal testimonies and documents. The artists have responded to these complex and often unfathomable narratives without overlooking the details that make each story distinct, nor denying Holocaust survivors the universally relatable dimensions of life. Through colour, sound, texture, composition, repetition, and gesture, their works express what facts alone cannot. This allows audiences to encounter Holocaust histories in an emotionally resonant way, but also gives material form to memory, placing viewers in direct dialogue with the past and prompting conversations that bridge then and now. At the heart of this exhibition are questions of representation and responsibility. In the face of a global rise in authoritarian and right-wing ideologies, antisemitism, ethnic and religious conflict, and mass migration, I believe it is vital that we ask ourselves not only what we remember and how — but also to what end. In doing so, we build greater resilience against contemporary politics of dehumanisation and create space for a culture of solidarity.”

Alessandro Bucci, Director of Holocaust Centre North adds:

“Memorial Gestures is the outcome of our ambitious residency programme –our response to some of the most pressing questions facing Holocaust memory today as we move further from living memory: such as how do we continue to remember the Holocaust with depth and relevance? How do we engage audiences with original materials while also honouring what was lost, destroyed, stolen, or never took an archivable form? And how do we foster a responsible culture of care when working with stories of persecution, forced displacement, murder, and loss – as well as trauma, intergenerational memory, and the complex relationships between local histories and global events? These questions are not fixed, nor are the answers exhaustive – but they have offered a framework for the artists involved, many of whom carry Holocaust histories in their own families, to explore and respond to this story on their own terms. In doing so, Memorial Gestures – both the residency and this subsequent exhibition – contributes to an ongoing and vital conversation about the role of memory in the present day – how we might keep it alive, resonant, and relevant for generations to come. I am very proud that we, at Holocaust Centre North, have created this programme to keep those questions and conversations going.”

As well as visual art, the work of resident writers and translators form part of the exhibition. Writers Tom Hastings, Rey Conquer, Sierra Kaag and Nathalie Olah were commissioned by the Centre and will share works in progress of their forthcoming book-length projects.

During the exhibition’s run, Holocaust Centre North will also programme several accompanying public and private events, talks, and tours at Sunny Bank Mills – engaging diverse communities with fine art and narratives of migration, trauma, survival, persecution, and resilience.

Memorial Gestures runs from Friday 6 to Saturday 28 June 2025 at The 1912 Mill at Sunny Bank Mills, Farsley, Pudsey, West Yorkshire.

One of Yorkshire’s most prestigious annual art exhibitions Ones To Watch returns for its 12th year at the Sunny Bank Mills Art Gallery in Farsley, between Leeds and Bradford.

The exhibition is focused on talented emerging artists and makers who are based in, or are from, Yorkshire. It brings together work by artists from across disciplines, from painting to sculpture, jewellery, textiles, photography, ceramics, design and more with much of the work available to buy. It is an ideal way to start an art collection whilst supporting artists through buying prints and limited editions at very affordable prices.

Sunny Banks Mills’ Arts Director Anna Turzynski said: “It is such a joy to open our 12th annual Ones to Watch exhibition at Sunny Bank Mills. The cohort this year has been incredibly strong and walking into the Gallery each morning and seeing their work here is incredibly energising.

She continued: “The artists exhibiting this year are a mixture of people who are graduating art school, leaving alternative arts education or who are marking a milestone in their self-taught practice.

“All the artists share a desire to show their work in a physical space and I invite audiences to support them at this vital time in their practice. Come down to vote for your favourite piece in the Gallery. The Peoples’ Choice Award provides an artist with a free 3-month residency space at Sunny Bank Mills in which to work. This is a valuable resource for the winner, introduces them to our Mills’ community of 35 artists, and helps to retain talent in the region.

We’re also offering The East Street Arts Prize. One exhibiting artist will be selected by a panel of the East Street Arts Team to have a free month-long residency at Convention House in Leeds.

Ones To Watch offers so much. As gallery spaces around the UK close at an alarming rate, we love to see artists bringing their family, friends, fans and potential future collaborators into the space to connect and show off all their hard work. I implore the artists to make the most of this opportunity.”

The exhibition explores topics of identity, place, community and… cats.

Two of the artists taking part in Ones To Watch are Ellie Andrews and Jessie Davies.

Ellie Andrews is an emerging portrait and figurative artist and the founder of Leeds Drawing Club. She studied Theatre Design at Central Saint Martins, University of the Arts and after a period working as a set designer, returned to Leeds to set up Leeds Drawing Club in 2007.

Ellie commented: “I am very grateful for the opportunity to show my work in such a well-respected Gallery as Sunny Bank Mills. It is a very exciting moment for me as an early career emerging artist.

I think it is an important and positive step that the Sunny Bank Mills Gallery has extended their remit to include those who are self-taught or not recently graduated (like me!) for their curation of Ones to Watch 2025. It is a fantastically interesting show, beautifully and sensitively curated.

She continued: “My pieces exhibited in Ones to Watch 2025 are part of a series about maternal subjectivity, placing mothers front and centre, and encouraging us to reflect on how our society presents the concept of motherhood to future generations.

As an artist mother, which comes with its own set of unique challenges, it feels amazing to receive recognition for my work and to feel seen and respected as an artist – thank you! “

Jessie Davies is an artist whose work highlights important yet fragile wetland and woodland environments that play a vital role in our wider ecosystems.

Living with multiple disabilities, including paraplegia and autism, Jessie’s access to and view of the rural environment result in an acute observation of small, overlooked objects which nestle in the landscape.

Jessie said: “Being part of Ones to Watch has been, for me, an amazing experience, working alongside other emergent artists and sharing their energy and enthusiasm.

In recent years, my own artwork has been highlighting important yet fragile wetland and woodland environments which play a vital role in our wider ecosystems. The work which I am showing at this exhibition includes a series of paintings inspired by a freshwater wetland on the Humber banks which was damaged by saltwater flooding. These pieces incorporate reeds, foliage and other materials found on the site.

Alongside these paintings, I have ceramic works documenting the recovery of a West Yorkshire woodland site affected by wildfire. These ceramics, created on a wheelchair-accessible pottery wheel, reflect my close observation of the site’s forms and textures; some show signs of charring while others display new growth. They are crafted with stoneware, wild-clay and slips, and finished with glazes made from natural materials like leaves and charcoal.”

Ones To Watch is open in the Gallery, Sandsgate Building, Sunny Bank Mills, Farsley, LS28 5UJ, Tuesday-Saturday 10-4, Sunday 12-4 until April 27th. Closed on Mondays. FREE ENTRY.

Artists from across the North are invited to submit works for a major exhibition in Leeds this summer. The exhibition is generously sponsored by McInroy & Wood, long term sponsor of the New Light Charity.

The New Light ‘Summer Exhibition of the North’ will take place from 8th July to 10th August. It is open to all artists with a Northern connection. The submissions window opens on 1 March and closes on 30 April 2025.

Artists accepted will see their work exhibited at Sunny Bank Mills, Leeds’ biggest arts and cultural hub which is based in a former textile mill in Farsley, West Leeds.  Last year’s New Light Art Prize Exhibition, which was seen at five venues across the North, attracted over 66,000 visitors. The public response to the exhibition was fantastic, of the 120 selected artworks on show, 95 sold during the exhibition.

Rebekah Tadd, CEO of New Light, says: “As Bradford celebrates its City of Culture 2025 status and plays host to the Turner Prize, we’re aiming to extend the focus on the North’s artistic talent with this Summer exhibition which will also include sculpture. Sunny Bank Mills is only 4 miles from Bradford and the area creates a wonderful creative destination for visitors”.

“Each judge will curate their own distinctive selection of artworks, making the exhibition curatorially interesting, attracting a range of interpretation and creative engagement and sparking exciting public debate”.

“We aim to bring a focus to emerging artists from across the North to help to introduce them to a new audience. Gallery directors and curators from across the North and London will visit the exhibition to seek new and emerging artists.

“We will also run our Art for All programme alongside the exhibition, with family-friendly demonstrations, talks and workshops to provide creative summer holiday activities for both children and adults.”

Each of the 9 Summer Exhibition judges will award a bursary of £500 to their chosen overall winning artist.

To enter a work, artists are asked to:  https://newlight-art.org.uk/exhibitions/

Shortlisted artists will be notified on 23^rd May 2025.

William Gaunt, joint Managing Director of Sunny Bank Mills says: “We are really excited to work with New Light to create this new ambitious show for the North. An exhibition of this scale presents a wonderful opportunity for the public to view and buy the very best art that the North can offer – all under one roof! The excellent judging panel ensures that the standard of the art selected will genuinely be the best.  And the show provides the artists with a valuable selling opportunity, exposing their work to a wide audience.”

Liz Wild, Investment Director at McInroy & Wood in Harrogate says “As long-standing supporters of the arts, McInroy & Wood recognises the vital role art plays in the fabric of our society. Our relationship with New Light is now in its seventh year and we are delighted to support the charity with this new Summer Exhibition.  Sunny Bank Mills is a wonderful venue to stage the exhibition – bringing together the creative legacy of the region with some of today’s finest Northern Artists.”

New Light Art is a registered charity dedicated to raising the profile of contemporary art from the North of England. For more on New Light, please visit: https://newlight-art.org.uk/

The New Light Summer Exhibition of the North judges are:

Christopher Cook, a British painter known for his monochromatic works using liquid graphite. His work has been exhibited and collected in major museums and galleries around the world, including the British Museum, Fitzwilliam Museum, the V&A, MIMA, Oxford University, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Minneapolis Institute of Art, Yale Centre for British Art and the Yokohama Museum of Art.

Laura Gascoigne is a critic and commentator on the visual arts. She is a regular contributor to publications including: The Spectator, Apollo, RA Magazine, Country Life as well as writing a satirical column in The Jackdaw.

Beth Hughes is Curator and Creative Producer for 2017 Turner Prize winner Lubaina Himid and leads the Working Class British Art Network.  Recent freelance work include projects with MIMA, Middlesbrough, and Salisbury Cathedral. Prior to this she was a curator at the Arts Council Collection.

David Lee is an outspoken and fearless contemporary art critic. Previously the editor of Art Review, he left in 2000 to focus on his publication The Jackdaw.  Published six times a year, it stands as the Private Eye of the British art world, combining investigative journalism, opinion pieces, exposés, satire and insider gossip.

Linnet Panashe Rubaya is a Leeds-based artist.  Her figurative paintings illuminate scholarship, critical writing, and self-reflections on her identity’s intersections to explore blackness and introduce insights on contemporary culture and community in Britain. Her work has been exhibited across the UK and Europe in public and private galleries including the Saatchi and Collyer Bristow Galleries in London and MK Gallery, Milton. Linnet has been shortlisted for several awards including UK Young Artist of the Year, Bridgeman Studio Award and Art Harare Africa First Prize. In 2020  she was awarded the New Light Emerging Artist Prize.

George Vasey is a freelance writer and curator based in Newcastle. He is currently Senior Lecturer in Curating at Teesside University as well as regularly teaching on BA, MA Fine Art, Museum Studies and Curating programmes across the UK. He has curated projects at Leeds Art Gallery, Southwark Park Galleries, the Wellcome Collection and the Turner Prize at Ferens Art Gallery, Hull. He has previously held curatorial roles at Newcastle University, BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art and Northern Gallery for Contemporary Art.  He regularly writes for Art Review, Apollo, Art Monthly, Burlington, Frieze, Kaleidoscope and Mousse magazine and currently is a Trustee at New Contemporaries.

Anne Desmet holds a BA and MA from the Ruskin School of Art, Oxford University, and a Postgraduate Diploma in Printmaking from London’s Central School of Art and Design. She has taught wood engraving widely, including at the RA Schools, British Museum and Middlesex University, and is a former External Examiner in Fine Art at Aberystwyth University and at Kingston College of Art. In 2011, she was elected as a member of the Royal Academy of Arts and is only the third wood engraver ever elected to the RA in its history. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Painter-Printmakers (RE) and the Society of Wood Engravers (SWE). In 2018, she was elected an Honorary Fellow of Worcester College, Oxford. Commissions include engravings and drawings for the Royal Mint, V&A, British Library, British Museum, National Gallery, Sotheby’s, The Times, Vital Arts (London) NHS Trust, Worcester College & Balliol College Oxford and Oxford University Press.

George Harris

George is Exhibition and Production Manager at The Bowes Museum, Barnard Castle. He has ten years’ experience in curating major exhibitions at this prestigious venue. Exhibitions include Six Masterpieces from Spain’s Golden Age, Yves Sain Laurent: Style is Eternal, The New Light Prize Exhibition and Jonathan Yeo: Skin Deep.

Steve Williams is a sculptor and co-owner of The Sculpture Gallery in Leeds. He works mostly in stone, exploring and experimenting with new materials and techniques, and has developed a broad range of work from portraits to abstract forms and figurative pieces. He has exhibited in galleries and group exhibitions across the North and has work in private collections in the UK and overseas. At The Sculpture Gallery, he has curated many exhibitions across a range of 3D media and developed an extensive network of UK sculptors. He regularly demonstrates stone carving techniques at locations across the North including The Hepworth in Wakefield, Kirkstall Abbey and Ripon Cathedral and as part of Heritage Open Days in Leeds. Steve has a studio in Oldham where he practises and offers stone carving courses for beginners. He is mostly self-taught and has honed his carving skills and techniques in Pietrasanta, Italy and at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park.

Photo credit Sam Toolsie.

Sunny Bank Mills’ annual Print Festival is back over the weekend of 1^st – 2nd March in the  iconic 1912 Mill in Farsley, Leeds.

The Print Festival comprises Leeds’ biggest Print Fair; free drop-in zine, bookbinding and printmaking workshops for all ages; a pop-up exhibition and workshop from the People Powered Press;  Artists’ Open Studios in the Twisting, Spinning Mill and Red Lane Studios; the launch of its annual emerging artist exhibition, Ones to Watch 2025; and a drop-in to its textile Museum & Archive which houses a collection of national importance.

The Print Fair features over 60 printmakers, bookmakers, collectives and studios ready to sell their work as part of a weekend celebrating traditional and contemporary print and bookbinding techniques. Expect to see screenprints, monoprints, risographs, collagraphs, zines, hand-bound books and more. There will be a wide range of stallholders from across the UK, including Basil & Ford, Angela Hall, West Yorkshire Print Workshop, Ploterre, Ellie Way, Right Nice Stuff and Concrete Nature to name but a few.

Natalie Kolowiecki, Arts Events Co-ordinator at Sunny Bank Mills, explained: “We’re very excited that our prestigious Print Festival is back.

“At the Print Fair there will be 100s of prints and books to see from a wide selection of artists, from early career zine makers to traditional printmakers.

In addition to the Print Fair, we’re delighted to welcome back The People Powered Press which will be taking over the 1912 Mill’s 3rd floor. Their exhibition ‘These Northern Types,’ at the Mills in 2018, was the first public display of their Guinness World Record holding giant letterpress printing press. This time around, their pop-up exhibition over the weekend will feature large-scale works hand-printed at their Saltaire studio including a 12-metre-wide mural, a collection of individual letters 1.5-metres tall and a photographic exhibition of works installed across Bradford and Leeds since 2021. Visitors will also have the chance to design and print their own letter on the People Powered Press’s mini press, contributing to a complete alphabet of unique designs created by them to add to the exhibition over the weekend.”

“If you want to learn a new skill or brush up on an existing one, we have a range of pre-bookable workshops happening throughout the weekend, including an Introduction to Collagraph Printing, and an Introduction to Concertina Books with Abbie Mooney, Faux Leather Journal-Making with Zoe Platt, Drypoint Printing with Cath Brooke, Let’s Make Zines! with Kristyna Baczynski and an Introduction to Lino Printing with Saba Siddiqui. Some of our workshops are sold out but you will be able to book on the day if there are spaces available.”

Kolowiecki continued “If all of this is not enough, our 35-strong artist community is holding Open Studios in the Twisting, Spinning Mill and Red Lane Studios where you can meet them, find out more about what they do and buy art direct from the makers. In the Gallery, our Ones to Watch exhibition opens, showcasing the work of over 30 Yorkshire-based emerging artists. Our Museum and Archive is open to drop-in where you can find out about 180 years of cloth production and the lives of our former mill workers.”

Make a day or even a weekend of it by visiting the Print Festival. The Fair’s Craft Café will be open for cakes, savoury food, and hot & cold drinks. All the Mills usual retail and food and drink outlets will be open. U12s have free entry into the Print Fair.

For full event details: https://www.sunnybankmills.co.uk/arts/gallery/print-festival-2025/

Sunny Bank Mills is one of the most exciting and respected cultural and community hubs in the Yorkshire region. It is home to an acclaimed contemporary Art Gallery, a large artists’ studio community, a textile Museum & Archive, and with many other creative independent businesses on site. It’s situated in the heart of the thriving village of Farsley in West Leeds.

After an inspiring year championing creativity in Leeds, Let Us See You concludes with a spectacular exhibition at Sunny Bank Mills Gallery in Leeds. This eagerly awaited event showcases the project’s standout works, offering a final opportunity to appreciate the incredible talents of local artists. Supported with funding from Leeds Inspired, part of Leeds City Council, Aire Place Studios proudly collaborates with Sunny Bank Mills to close a transformative chapter for the city’s art community.

The exhibition represents a year of dedication to nurturing creativity through workshops, curatorial guidance, and inclusive opportunities. Featuring an impressive collection—including dynamic paintings, detailed prints, and compelling sculptures—it celebrates the rich diversity of voices shaping Leeds’ artistic landscape.
Aligned with the project’s focus on accessibility and representation, the exhibition highlights creators from marginalised and underrepresented groups. Every piece tells a story, reflecting the unique vibrancy of Leeds’ cultural scene.

Visitors can not only admire the exceptional artwork but also support local creators by purchasing pieces, fostering the growth of the city’s creative spaces and talent.

The Let Us See You: A Citywide Artistic Journey exhibition at Sunny Bank Mills is more than a display—it’s a tribute to a year of collaboration, innovation, and community spirit. Don’t miss this extraordinary finale redefining how art is celebrated in Leeds.

Until 23rd February 2025.