Leeds artists say community spaces are vital.

Community-led Assembly House in Armley has displayed their annual exhibition, showcasing work from over 30 different artists.

This year’s exhibition featured a range of pieces; from paintings, to sculptures, to immersive audio experiences.

Nigel Smethurst,71, retired IT technician, who visited the exhibition said it was: “very illuminating, there’s a lot of different things going on, some things are quite arresting.”

Rosie, 23, charity worker said: “It’s just so nice to go out and explore creative things and for there to be enough space for that in Leeds.

“And it eases my mind going and getting stimulated by art and sounds and good stuff.”

Source: Georgia Lee | All Rights Reserved

Assembly house has over 30 resident artists but more than 60 in the community, since 2013 the organisation has offered affordable studio space and support to these artists which has helped to develop the Leeds emerging art scene.

Resident artist Edek Thompson said: “Assembly is an amazing supportive community, there’s always someone to talk to, someone to help.

“Art spaces are vital, they’re integral to communities, they are spaces where people can come and share. they can get together with like-minded people and meet different people.”

Source: Georgia Lee | All Rights Reserved

Fellow artist and building supervisor, Glen Ogden, said: “I think it’s such a great landing pad, post uni, being able to keep that community of ideas flowing and bouncing around.

“And I think you see that in the quality of the work in the exhibition, how many ideas are exchanged and those conversations between the artists that go unseen to you as a viewer of the exhibition.”

“Having a community of artists who look out for each other, there is this bond of a shared interest which I think is just so rare, not many people can say they’ve got 66 really close friends with a common interest in a safe, shared space.”

Glen has worked at Assembly House since 2019 and has two pieces in the exhibition, both based on his 10 years working in Mcdonald’s to fund his artistry.