Extended Diploma students sell their work at Kirkgate Market

Second year Extended Diploma in Creative Practice students sold their work at Leeds Kirkgate Market as part of Conscious Creatives, a pop-up exhibition and art market.

This annual exhibition and market are part of an ongoing relationship with Leeds Kirkgate Market, which provides Extended Diploma students with valuable experience of working towards a live brief.

Students from all pathways, Fine Art, Graphic Communication, Fashion and Textiles, and 3D Design were set a brief to create a piece of work which responded to the market as a place. The brief challenged students to consider how artists and designers can engage with issues surrounding sustainability, exploring the role of art and design in creating a sustainable society.

As part of their research, the students explored the market’s location and purpose within the city; its history, present and future, its diverse communities and activities, and the character and soul of the building. They also considered the market’s importance to Leeds’ social and economic sustainability and how art and culture can contribute to the vitality of a place.

The students were then asked to consider the economic sustainability of their own creative practice by translating their artwork into products or multiples, which they sold directly to the public. They also created posters summarising their projects, which were exhibited in Kirkgate Market.