For Students
- <b>Until:</b> Tuesday 30 September 2025
- Location: Leeds University Library Galleries
- Cost: Free
Want to know what's happening for students? From events and exhibitions to work experience and wellbeing, here's everything you need to know about your Galleries on campus:
Jump to: News // Events // Opportunities // Student Projects
Hello!
We are the place to go for cool old stuff and art on campus! You'll find our two Galleries, Treasures of the Brotherton and The Stanley & Audrey Burton Gallery, in the Parkinson Building. We have a changing programme of exhibitions and a busy schedule of events. And if you want to explore further, you’ll find the Brotherton Research Centre upstairs in the Brotherton Library.
News
Keep up to date with your Galleries on campus and get all the latest news, events and exhibitions straight to your inbox by signing up to our monthly e-newsletter.
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Events
Fresh Start Festival 2025
Suncatcher Workshop with Lina
Tuesday 28 January // 11:00 – 15:00 // Parkinson Court, Parkinson Building // Free // Drop-in, no booking required
Embrace your creative side this Fresh Start Festival. Inspired by Boris Maas’ exhibition ‘You have seen nothing yet’, our Galleries Intern Lina will guide you through crafting your very own suncatcher in this drop-in workshop.
All day Write on Wednesday
Wednesday 29 January // 10:00 – 17:00 // Treasures of the Brotherton, Parkinson Building // Free // Drop-in, no booking required
Join us for a bumper edition of Write on Wednesday! This free, self-led creative writing drop-in is the perfect wellbeing fix. Pull up a stool, help yourself to a writing prompt and enjoy looking at objects from our collections you may never have noticed before.
Museums & Mocktails
Thursday 30 January // 17:30 – 19:30 // The Stanley & Audrey Burton Gallery, Parkinson Building // Free // Book your place
Enjoy a lively evening of activities surrounded by cool old stuff and art in this late opening - exclusively for students! Explore your Galleries on campus, find out more about our collections, and meet like-minded people (with a couple of mocktails added in for good measure!)
All day Sketch Club
Friday 31 January // 10:00 – 17:00 // The Stanley & Audrey Burton Gallery, Parkinson Building // Free // Drop-in, no booking required
Join us for a bumper edition of Sketch Club! Take a break from your studies with this free, self-led art drop-in. Chat with fellow art appreciators or simply indulge your creativity in a calm, inspiring atmosphere.
Student Exclusive
Make it Social: Monotype Printing with Saba Siddiqui
Saturday 15 February // 14:00 – 16:00 // Treasures of the Brotherton, Parkinson Building // Free // Book your place
Create your own monotype prints with award winning artist Saba Siddiqui. Saba will introduce and demonstrate various techniques, and at the end of the workshop you’ll have your own prints ready to take home and frame!
Our Regular Events
Write on Wednesday
Every Wednesday // 12:30 – 15:30 // Treasures of the Brotherton, Parkinson Building // Find out more
Drop in and write! This free, self-led creative writing drop-in is the perfect weekly wellbeing fix. Pull up a stool, help yourself to a writing prompt and enjoy looking at objects from our collections you may never have noticed before.
Sketch Club
Every Friday // 12:30 – 15:30 // The Stanley & Audrey Burton Gallery, Parkinson Building // Find out more
Take a break from your studies with this free, self-led art drop-in. Chat with fellow art appreciators or simply indulge your creativity in a calm, inspiring atmosphere. No need to book in advance, just turn up and draw!
Public Art Trail
All Day Every Day // University of Leeds Campus // Find out more
Exploring our collection of Public Art is a great way to get to know the University campus. Pick up a free Public Art Trail map from one of our Galleries in the Parkinson Building and head out for a stroll. And you can tune into our Audio Trail to discover the inspiration behind each piece, and hear fascinating personal anecdotes from the artists. At each artwork, simply pop in your headphones and scan the QR code.
Opportunities
We have various opportunities for you to get involved and gain experience with the Galleries. Check back here as we will share details as they are released.
Or to be the first to hear about our upcoming opportunities, as well as all the latest news, events and exhibitions at Leeds University Library Galleries, sign up to our monthly e-newsletter.
Student Projects
Student Ambassador
Meet our 2023-24 Student Ambassador Saba! Saba worked with our Learning and Engagement Team to help put on events and opportunities for students, including coming up with ideas for Fresh Start Festival and planning creative workshops.
Cook Up Recipe Book
Our 2023-24 Student Ambassador Saba led a creative workshop in April 2024 with the Leeds Asylum Seekers Support Network (LASSN) Tea and Talk Group as part of the Galleries’ ongoing Welcoming Migrants project. Saba invited the group to draw inspiration from selected items in the University’s internationally renowned Cookery Collection before writing and illustrating recipes from their own cultures. Some of the group also brought their cooked recipes in for the group to share and enjoy, much to the Gallery staff’s delight!
All these wonderful recipes from around the globe were drawn together into the published cookbook, Cook Up Recipe Book, by School of Design student, Charles Fowler. Food is a universal way to share one’s culture and hospitality with others, strengthen bonds between communities, and enhance social wellbeing. Cook Up Recipe Book is a collaboration of cultures, and also has some recipes written in members’ native languages - providing another way to learn and share through the book.
Cook Up Recipe Book went on display in the exhibition ‘Don’t Play With Your Food’ at Sunny Bank Mills Gallery between 6 July - 1 September 2024.
Welcoming Migrants contributes to the University of Leeds’ wider ambition to become a University of Sanctuary. The project offers collections-based community outreach engaging with local refugees and migrants, and connects people, objects, and stories with the aim of developing skills and supporting wellbeing.
Navigating Home
Our Student Volunteers - Isla, Alex, Estie, and Paul - worked with the Galleries team to produce online content in support of the exhibition ‘Mohammad Barrangi: One Night, One Dream, Life in the Lighthouse’, which was at The Stanley & Audrey Burton Gallery between 1 May - 20 July 2024. The core aim of the project was to offer an alternative way to connect with the exhibition, providing additional context to the themes explored in the artworks. The team created text and audio that included voices from our student community, and produced an online resource to sit alongside the exhibition. You can navigate their collection of texts, poems and interviews on the Navigating Home landing page.
