East Street Arts are working in partnership with Historic England and Leeds City Council to explore the past, present and future of New Briggate, a street in Leeds City Centre.
The charity are also working in association with other organisations including Leeds Heritage Theatres and Opera North, to highlight the history of the high street.
Two young artists, Harry Clayton-Wright and Yaku Stapleton, have been selected by East Street Arts to give New Briggate a new lease of life, using forms of art to capture the history on the street.
Harry, is a performance artist looking at uncovering the LGBTQ+ background of the high street, as the theatre has connections to this.
The second artist, Yaku, is a fashion graduate interested in New Briggate originally being a focus point of the Leeds carnival.
Layla Robleh-Davies, a communicator at East Street Arts said “the aim [of the project] is to look into the history and to delve down and highlight aspects of the street we’re walking down everyday but might not know everything about.”
“The original use of the street has changed, and it’s changed the way people look at it.”
She continued, “there is fear the area could become gentrified and become something different to what it is now, but this project is to enable the street not to lose its original identity.”
According to Historic England, the project will transform New Briggate, making it more pedestrian friendly and increasing activity for bars and restaurants.
The three-year regeneration scheme, currently in the early stages of development, should be complete by 2023.
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