Kerry Harker
Founder and Artistic Director 2017-25
Kerry founded the East Leeds Project in 2017 in response to conversations about culture in East Leeds during Leeds’ bid to become European Capital of Culture in 2023 and as a response to family life in Gipton where she has lived for the last 23 years.
Kerry has worked in the visual arts since graduating from a BA (Hons) Fine Art degree and MA in Feminism and the Visual Arts at the University of Leeds in the mid-1990s. As an artist she has exhibited across the UK, including in New Contemporaries (Camden Arts Centre, London and touring, 1994-5) and Collect (V&A, London, 2005). Since 2004 she has co-founded a number of artist-led initiatives including Vitrine (2004-6) and Project Space Leeds (co-founded with Pippa Hale and Diane Howse, 2006).
In 2013 she co-founded The Tetley, a centre for contemporary art on the emerging South Bank of Leeds city centre, where she was inaugural Artistic Director until September 2015. She was subsequently interim Director of the Art House in Wakefield (2015-16) before beginning her recently completed PhD in the School of Fine Art, History of Art & Cultural Studies at the University of Leeds, where her research focused on questions of value and values in relation to artist-led initiatives across the UK.
Kerry has served on the Boards of several arts organisations including The Art House (Wakefield), Project Space Leeds, Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Sun (Leeds), Leeds Sustainable Development Group, Corridor8, Chapel FM (Seacroft, Leeds) and currently Absolutely Cultured and the Humber Street Gallery (Hull).
Paddy Smith
Student Placement 2020-21
I’m a final year Human Geographer at the University of Leeds, and a certified ‘map-geek’. I have experience working in the public sector in Leeds as a researcher for Migrant Action. I love the city of Leeds and spend most of my time either walking down the Leeds-Liverpool Canal, or Call Lane.
At University, I’m interested in how to analyse and visualise social data, so to enhance understanding of social processes and to inform social policy. I’m aspiring to pursue a career in social data science and in the public sector.
As part of my placement with the East Leeds Project, I’m excited to deploy my social data skills to analyse and map the landscape of creative activity and spaces across Leeds. This work will help connect and embed the development of East Leeds Pavilion with creative networks and other ‘makerspaces’ in the surrounding area.
Alicia Vermeulen
Student Placement 2020-21
I am a third year physical geography student. Urban sustainability is one of my main interests, so I’m grateful for the opportunity to explore this through the East Leeds Project. I am excited to utilise my sustainability knowledge to make a positive impact on the communities living East of Leeds by ensuring environmental sustainability is an integral part of the makerspace while also being suited to the people it will benefit.
Georgina Feller
Student Placement 2019-20
Georgie is in her third year at the University of Leeds studying Human Geography. As part of her dissertation she is conducting research on the role of community initiatives in Leeds, and will observe and participate in the development of the East Leeds Pavilion. Academically, she enjoys learning about the reclamation of public space, urban contestation and neoliberalism.
Yunxuan Li
Student Placement 2019-20
Yunxuan is currently studying MA Art Gallery and Museum Studies in the Scholl of Fine Art, History of Art & Cultural Studies at the University of Leeds. Her research focuses on contemporary art studies in the context of curation and cultural organisations. Yunxuan’s undergraduate course was in advertising and while she has been in Leeds she has worked as a graphic designer for Enjoy art space. Yunxuan previously worked at M Woods, a not-for-profit art museum in Beijing founded by collectors Lin Han and Wanwan Lei, as an assistant based in the audience participation and artwork interpretation team.
Nicole Beardsley
Student Placement 2019-20
Nicole is a postgraduate student in the School of Fine Art, History of Art & Cultural Studies at the University of Leeds, studying MA Art Gallery and Museum Studies. She is interested in witnessing first hand how initiatives such as the East Leeds Project work collaboratively with communities to produce something everyone can be proud of. Nicole is also interested in how communities and cultural projects can work together to physically improve an area and to boost mental health in the community. Nicole is excited to be involved with the East Leeds Pavilion, and get involved with the Gipton community.
Katie Raw
Student Placement 2018-19
Katie is currently in her final year at the University of Leeds studying Human Geography, after spending last year studying at the University of Queensland in Australia.
Katie is thrilled by the opportunity to help in the development of the East Leeds Project, through a Workplace Cooperative Project Module as part of her undergraduate degree, and is excited about meeting new communities in the city.
Academically, Katie’s interests centre around cultural and social geography, and she enjoys learning about the socio-cultural elements of interactions and space. She is also a creative practitioner and has been heavily involved in dance throughout her life.