Yorkshire Visual Arts Network

OUR TURN has come to a close—and what a journey it’s been! Over the four months (Sept 2025 - Jan 2026), Bradford’s visual arts scene has been front and centre. OUR TURN showcased 135 artists, 14 new commissions, 12 exhibitions across the district, and 15 events connecting with new audiences. This festival has been powered by the amazing creative people of Bradford. Thank you to every artist, partner, visitor, and collaborator who helped make it happen—we’re so grateful for the energy, ideas, and generosity you brought to OUR TURN. We are now looking at what’s next, and how we keep supporting artists and creative communities across Bradford, and aim to bring OUR TURN back for round two in 2027! OUR TURN was delivered by South Square in collaboration with Bradford 2025 UK City of Culture, Yorkshire Contemporary and Bradford Producing Hub. The festival was supported by Arts Council England, Yorkshire Visual Arts Network and commissioned by Bradford 2025. @bradford_2025 @yorkshirecontemporary @bdproducinghub @aceagrams @yvanetwork #SouthSquareCentre #Bradford #OURTURN #Bradford2025 #BD25

Join us for the first BEYOND since the in-person event in April- on Wednesday 3rd June at 6-7:30pm. We hope some of those you joined for that in-person event can come along to this online social, as well as any regulars or newcomers. Register your place via the link in our bio ⬆️✨ As always we will be led by multi-disciplinary artist Michael Barnes-Wynters. @doodlebugnuggets Expect an open, welcoming space to connect with fellow artists and arts workers, share ideas, exchange resources, build relationships, and get feedback on your work.

Just a selection of the events coming up very soon in May as part of the artist-led festival- Situation Leeds 2026. We’re so pleased to be supporting this programme. Situation Leeds returns in May 2026, bringing a grassroots, artist-led festival back to the city for the first time in almost two decades. With a core programme from 11–24 May, with activity continuing across May and June, the festival will showcase new work, temporary interventions and events shaped by over 40 artists working in and around Leeds today. All the events are listed on their website - this is just a selection (link in our bio and @situation_leeds bio)- 1. Situation Leeds 2026- Artist-led festival taking place 11-24 May @situation_leeds 2. Hannah Platt shares ‘Just For Fun: Market Day. Unit 31, Leeds Kirkgate Market, 14th-16th May 11-4pm @hannahbplatt 3,4,5: Guided Skateable Tour, 17th May, 2pm (Mandela Gardens meet)-3:30pm end - free and no need to book, all wheels welcome, wheelchair accessible, enhanced audio. (3 photos) @harrymeadley 6. Pinch Punch, Fine Art Exhibition, 5th-22nd May, Room 2.07, Sir William Henry Bragg Building UoL. @p1nchp0nch 7. Linden Archives, a nostalgic look at the Leeds Queer Scene of the 1990s, 14th May HPPH, 6pm - @linden_archives 8. Sculpture Galleries of the Not Future, Kerry Harker and Holly Rowan Hesson, 14 May, 4pm, Starting from Granary Wharf, booking essential @kerryharker @hollyrowanhesson

A huge thank you to everyone who joined our BEYOND in-person event in York a few weeks ago! It was a fantastic evening and so inspiring to bring together creatives from across Yorkshire & Humber in one space. We were especially pleased to welcome people from a wide range of programmes YVAN has been involved with over the years, including UNBOUND and Beyond the Mainstream. It was also brilliant to hear from our seven speakers, who shared valuable insights into what’s happening across the sector right now. Our next gathering will be on Zoom on Wednesday 3rd June 2026 (free to attend, Eventbrite link in bio). We’d love for you to join us and be part of the network!

Introducing another of our YVAN’s Team Artist Spotlights. YVAN is run by a small staff team of three, each working with the organisation one day a week while continuing their own artistic practices. This series offers a glimpse into the varied work they create alongside their roles at YVAN. Next up is Sarah Yaccabe - an administrator at YVAN and workshop assistant at Yorkshire Sculpture Park (@yspsculpture ) and is based in Wakefield. Sarah is also a textile artist whose practice is rooted in sustainability, alongside supporting artistic communities through her administrative and workshop roles. We ask Sarah more about her practice, networks and aspirations. @yaccabe Read the interview through the link in bio⬆️✨

📍 Join us in the snug at Hyde Park Book Club, from 6 pm on Tuesday, 7 April, to hear from more artists about their process and their work, ahead of the festival in May/June. All welcome! 🎉A huge thank you to @catscottart @alex_delittle @melissa_burntown and @fiercefineartist for presenting their work last month, and @eaststreetarts for hosting. 💬 If you would like to be more involved, please join the WhatsApp group and/or mailing list via the link in our bio. Thanks again to the amazing support from @hydeparkbookclub for hosting our meetups, and @yvanetwork for supporting the ongoing development of Situation Leeds.

Artist opportunity! A really interesting offer from @uhiarchaeology to embed an artist in The Humber region. An Embedded Artist Opportunity with TRANSECTS project in The Humber.   The TRANSECTS project is seeking an embedded artist to explore marine energy transitions and coastal community resilience in The Humber region, with storylines workshops, walkshops and a mini-residency. The UHI Orkney and University of Hull team would like to work with a creative practitioner to explore the relationship between creativity and marine energy transitions from whale oil, oil and gas and renewables through time, and how this can support coastal community resilience.   The artist role will be to co-deliver Storylines workshops (£2000 budget), Walkshops (£3000 budget) and undertake an artist mini-residency (£5000 budget).   Project information: /transects/ For a full brief and application form email: [email protected]   Application deadline: 20 April 2026 (23:59)

📣Our final speakers joining us this Thursday in York! RSVP to join us for free through the link in bio! We’re thrilled to be joined by 3 speakers to tell us about Small Towns, Shared Practice - an account of how a small-town arts network operates in practice, linking inclusive studios, grassroots production and civic festival leadership. Rowena Lloyd is Director of Yorkshire CREATE and a Director of FEVA, Knaresborough’s Festival of Entertainment and Visual Arts. She works across youth theatre, schools and community performance, connecting grassroots production with civic cultural infrastructure Douglas Black is a multidisciplinary artist, researcher and Inclusive Arts Facilitator based in North Yorkshire. His practice spans public art, participatory projects and artist-led initiatives across Artizan, Henshaws Arts and Crafts Centre and Yorkshire CREATE. He holds an MA in Creative Practice and is currently undertaking a practice-led PhD in Fine Art at Teesside University examining authorship and power within inclusive arts practice. Sharon Hockin is an artist and curator working across Artizan and Henshaws Arts and Crafts Centre. She develops exhibitions and artist-led projects, supporting learning disabled and neurodivergent artists to sustain visible professional practice. The final 2 pictures are artworks created by the artists they work with. /e/beyond-york-artists-and-arts-workers-gathering-tickets-1983457189848

Introducing more of our speakers at our BEYOND event coming up in less than a week in York - next Thursday! RSVP to join us for free through the link in bio!✨ We have our BEYOND facilitator Michael Barnes-Wynters - @doodlebugnuggets - and Sue Ball who will talk about Situation Leeds - @situation_leeds - and the upcoming festival as a Steering group member. Michael is a multi-disciplined taste maker, audio visual artist, mentorist, mischief maker and instigator. Originating from Bristol of Jamaican parentage, his long-term artist collaborations broadcast at the intersections of immersive experiential film installations and provocative durational action performances. He is a passionate ambidextrous user of analogue and digital technologies which he employs to explore his childhood sensory experiences. Sue Ball is a cultural producer who works in the context of social and spatial design and is Director of the creative regeneration practice Media and Arts Partnership (MAAP). Sue operates in the intersection of disciplines and sectors to cultivate programmes of work and foster professional learning. Sue remains committed to collaborative working methods that strengthen value systems rooted in culture, place and community.

Introducing another of our speakers at our BEYOND event coming up in less than a month in York! RSVP to join us for free through the link in bio!✨ We’re thrilled to have Aracelly Firmo, Theatre-Maker and Artist, join us on 2nd April to tell us about two York-based organizations, Theatre of Connections and Story of the Changing. From Aracelly: I am a Global Majority Artivist working at the intersection of creativity, collective healing, and social change. My work is grounded in theatre that reconnects, using performance and its processes as tools for dialogue, healing, and collective reflection. Through participatory theatre, storytelling, and collaborative creation, I engage communities in conversations around justice, identity, and liberation. My practice centres theatre as a way to restore connections with self, community, and nature, using eco-embodied methods to address personal and collective challenges. Through storytelling and movement, I facilitate processes of transformation, creating spaces where people can reconnect with their bodies, their stories, and the living world around them. Rooted in activism and artistry, my work understands art as action: a living force that connects, challenges, and inspires, opening pathways toward meaningful transformation and, therefore, liberation. @aracelly_firmo__

Introducing YVAN’s Team Artist Spotlights. YVAN is run by a small staff team of three, each working with the organisation one day a week while continuing their own artistic practices. This series offers a glimpse into the varied work they create alongside their roles at YVAN. Kicking off Sharon Gill- the CEO of YVAN, an operations manager and a visual artist based in Sheffield. She studied Fine Art at Leeds Polytechnic, and an MA at Manchester Metropolitan University. Sharon has juggled being an artist, earning a living and raising her three children. We ask Sharon more about her practice, networks and current and future exhibitions. Read the interview through the link in bio⬆️✨

Introducing one of the speakers at our BEYOND event coming up in less than a month! RSVP to join us for free through the link in bio!✨ We’re thrilled to have Alice Withers, Director of South Square Centre @southsquarecentre in Thornton Bradford, with us on Thursday 2nd April at @sparkyork . Originally hailing from Manchester, Alice has been living and working in West Yorkshire for over 10 years. As a freelancer Alice has undertaken commissions for Leeds Art Gallery and the Yorkshire Sculpture International developing site-specific responses to people and place. She has worked as a Senior Producer for UP Projects (London) managing The Floating Cinema and its touring programme for Hull City of Culture 2017. Following capital redevelopment in 2021, South Square Centre is now home to artist studios, galleries, cafe, bar, framer and local history archive. The centre led OUR TURN: Bradford Visual Arts Festival in 2025, a new artist-led fringe festival running alongside the Turner Prize exhibition in Bradford.  We’ll share more of the presenters throughout the month, stay tuned.👀