News / 15 Oct 2025
Ribbons wins PSSA Marsh Award public vote
University News
Ribbons, a sculpture celebrating nearly 400 inspirational Leeds women, was announced as the winner of the public vote at the Marsh Awards for Excellence in Public Sculpture.
Created by artist Pippa Hale, Ribbons is the first sculpture in Leeds to celebrate the contribution women have made to the city in the past, and the part they play now. Located in Playhouse Gardens, it stands 4m high and comprises several lengths of 8mm Corten steel into which are cut the names of 383 women, nominated by public vote.
Located at the top of the gardens between Leeds City College’s Quarry Hill campus and Leeds Playhouse at the gateway to the SOYO development at Quarry Hill, the project was developed by Rt Hon Rachel Reeves, Chancellor of the Exchequer and Labour MP Leeds West and Pudsey, and led by Leeds Arts University in partnership with Leeds City Council and Leeds City College (member of Luminate Education Group).
The Public Statues and Sculpture Association (PSSA) champions the historical, artistic and social context of public statues and sculpture. The annual Marsh Award, run in collaboration with the Marsh Charitable Trust celebrates outstanding contemporary public sculpture and monuments installed in the previous year, anywhere in the UK.
Alongside the award for Excellence in Public Sculpture, selected by a judging panel, members of the public are invited to vote from five shorted listed works. After receiving the highest number of votes, Ribbons was announced as the winner of the public vote, whilst this years Marsh Award went to Will Maclean MBE RSA and Marian Leven RSA for Na Dorsan, located on the Isle of Lewis.
"I am absolutely thrilled that Ribbons won the public vote for the PSSA Marsh Award! Making artworks for the public realm is a huge honour and a great responsibility. These objects we make become part of our landscapes, things that people walk past every day, objects that say something about who we are as a society at a moment in time. For many women named on Ribbons, it means so much to have a permanent, public acknowledgment of their hard work and dedication to family, community and work that will be there for future generations to see. So this award is for all of the women on Ribbons - past and present, seen and unseen- I salute each and every one of you."
Pippa Hale, artist