A group of Leicester’s leading galleries have joined forces to produce a new art map for the city and county.
Including more than 40 galleries, studios and workshop facilities, the new Leicester Art Map has been produced by Leicester Visual Arts (LVA), a consortium of the city’s public funded galleries, including Attenborough Arts, Leicester Museum and Gallery, Leicester Gallery DMU, Leicester Print Workshop, Phoenix and Two Queens.
Spanning the county from Bottesford to Staunton Harold, the map includes a wide range of venues, from exhibition space in a Methodist chapel and small commercial galleries, through to bigger institutions based at the county’s universities. LVA hope that the map will be a useful tool for new visitors to the city and county, helping to make Leicester a destination to come and see exhibitions, as well as highlighting for local residents just how much art and culture is available on our doorsteps.
LVA believe that the pandemic has shown the importance of places for people to come together and make art and craft, with many discovering during lockdown that creative pursuits are beneficial to their health and wellbeing. The map acts as a directory for new and existing makers and artists to find facilities including artist-run studios, workshops for ceramics and print and an analogue photography darkroom.
The LVA consortium are also behind Leicester Art Week, which has been running since 2016 and returns this year 12th-21st November. Art Week 2021 will include a programme of over 50 exhibitions and events across the city, with both the festival and map made possible by a grant of nearly £15,000 from the National Lottery through Arts Council England.
