Are you a Maker* in east Leeds?
Get involved by completing our online survey
*Maker – a person who makes things – people who are artists, knitters, bakers, fabricators, photographers, designers, musicians, dancers, builders, producers, craftspeople and gardeners… amateurs and professionals alike!
East Leeds Makers Research Project – Survey now live!
The East Leeds Project is undertaking a new research project – East Leeds Makers. The project is linked to our belief that creativity is fundamental to a healthy and happy life – for everyone, for individuals and communities. But beyond the city centre, across the whole of east Leeds, there are no dedicated spaces for making: no co-working spaces, artists’ studios, maker spaces, hack spaces, or open access workshops. We already know a handful of creative people living in east Leeds but we believe there are many more out there.
East Leeds Makers aims to find out who makes what in east Leeds, where they do it and who they do it with. Whether people draw, weave, print, bake, whittle, film or fabricate. We’re interested in a really broad definition of making and we don’t draw any distinction between professionals, amateurs and hobbyists.
We are working on the project with Katie Raw, East Leeds Project’s Undergraduate Placement from the School of Geography at the University of Leeds. Utilising Katie’s interest and prior experience of using geographical mapping software, we intend to produce a cultural map of the area.
Cultural mapping is about physically plotting the different cultural aspects, networks and connections that exist in an area onto a map. We want to uncover making skills, connections and trading opportunities within East Leeds and then map these links in a way that we can share with local communities.
The research project is an initial step towards the East Leeds Project’s ambition to create a Pavilion at Fearnville Fields in Gipton – a temporary structure designed and built by, with and for the community. We have a vision of a shared creative space that is open and accessible to all, a place for getting together to showcase, share and exchange our skills in making. This research project will inform how the Pavilion project develops, and help the growth of new networks for a wider conversation about creativity in our part of the city.
