We are delighted to announce the 12 winners of our Leeds400 Art Competition.
To celebrate the 400th anniversary of Leeds receiving its Royal Charter from King Charles I, Leeds Civic Trust ran an art competition (see more here).
We received 84 entries to our competition and were blown away by the quality of the artwork we received. We plan to feature non-winning entries on our social media throughout the rest of 2026, so follow us to see more outstanding interpretations of Leeds!
Come and see the winning artwork at our exhibition at Leeds Corn Exchange Monday 13 – Friday 17 July at Leeds Corn Exchage. Meet the artists and join us for a night of celebration at the awards ceremony on the evening of Thursday 16 July. All are welcome.
Winners – 16s and Over Category – ‘Prospects of Leeds’
Andrew West – A 1990 watercolour and ink painting entitled ‘Wet Summer’s Day in Headingley.’ It was my first house and I just sat on the doorstep and painted the view from there. Back then, there was a mixed community of students, young parents (like my wife and I) and older residents on Thornville terrace. We were served by local corner shops, fish and chips shops, restaurants and pubs, many of which no longer exist.
Catherine Aldred – After attending the ‘Prospects of Leeds’ talk in the Central Library on the 5th May and going up onto the roof of the Broadgate building to sketch the views from there, this is my finished drawing from my initial sketch of the view looking down Eastgate towards the horizon.
I particularly liked how I could see different periods of architecture in this view – ornate Victorian buildings on Vicar Lane, including the glass roof of County Arcade, the 1930s Eastgate buildings and further into the distance more modern buildings such as the Leeds Playhouse, Quarry House, Leeds City College and the many new apartment blocks that are becoming a feature of the Leeds landscape.
As well as drawing the decorative building details one sees at street level, I also liked including the more functional parts of buildings you can only see from above such as chimneys, vents, pipework, barriers and fire escapes.
A1. Pencil, watercolour and ink.
Charlie Burman – Meanwood Park in Leeds. We are blessed to have so many wonderful green spaces around the city, and Meanwood is a well-loved and used community resource of outstanding natural beauty and variety. This picture is one of my favourite aspects of the park-the Beck. I have painted the Beck many times over recent years, and this is one of my favourite paintings. I hope you like it.
Janis Goodman – This is an etching based on drawings and photographs from the top of the Candle Tower in central Leeds. It is called “All Change Here”
because of the pace of change in the city. And since the original studies were made, almost two years ago, at least one more tower has been built.
Kenneth Yates – I took these on the day Leeds Utd were promoted to the Premier League. They are still there and the prospects look good, with an upgraded stadium taking shape.
Lisa Ellen Riley – I chose to paint my favourite view in Holbeck, I always like how the viaduct frames the forever growing city scape and there is something about this area, which makes me think it could be an opening scene for a movie before going into the depth of the city.
Winners – Under 16s Category – ‘How would you like Leeds to be in 400 years?’
Alice (age 10) – I think that in 400 years, Leeds will still have buildings from over 400 years ago but all around them will be new technology and devices. In my picture I have referenced the corn exchange as one of the old buildings. Around this is lots of new technology and cool transportation like: hoverboards(exactly like it sounds!), flying tyres as a path, a floating stage with a crowd starting to gather(beachballs throw as extra entertainment, air hearts being blown into the distance, a magic carpet, a pink sky and a rainbow in strange colours in hopes that in the future physics will allow us to change the appearance of different things in nature!
Ayoola (age 12) – Firstly, there will be hover vehicles hovering around the sky rather than on road and the roads will not be made out of concrete and asphalt, instead, they will be made out of metal and glass. Secondly, buildings would look futuristic where architecture focus on climate resilience, vertical greenery and smart AI driven automation, over concrete skyscrapers. AI would also be dominant because things would be more digital and AI driven such as robotaxis, delivery pods, and flying drones.
Eleanor (age 8) – A picture of Leeds in 400 years time with a treehouse and bridge over the river. The people are working and studying at the university. They live in their favourite colour houses.
Holly (age 10) – I would like Leeds in 2046 to be a lovely place to live. You can live underwater anywhere, on land in bright houses or in space. Some people have evolved into Merfolk! The Town Hall is still there, but in smaller form. Robots all sleep in there. Any pet can be yours, if you treat it well. In the water park, a robot accompanies you on all the rides. You can fly around in flying electric cars. Humans still have many job opportunities. I hope you would like to live here as well!
Rose (age 8) – In the future there will be a super tram with an upstairs like a double decker bus, the tracks go on the tops of the buildings. There is also an underwater hairdressers, a planetarium, an automatic dog wash and a bar with a robot bartender. All of the buildings have gardens on top and farmers use them to plant things on. The Corn Exchange and Hibiscus Rising are still there and there are now a lot more blue plaques.
Violet (age 14) – I hope that the city of Leeds becomes an even greener environment. Where animals and nature thrive and we can all live together. The Corn Exchange would be great in the centre of a city park, where nature takes back some control of the land.
Come and see the winning artwork at our exhibition at Leeds Corn Exchange Monday 13 – Friday 17 July at Leeds Corn Exchage. We will also be exhibiting non-winning entries as part of a montage on a banner.
Meet the artists and join us for a night of celebration at the awards ceremony on the evening of Thursday 16 July. All are welcome.
