It took a long time coming but we have finally got our sticky jam-covered fingers all over a huge shop on the lovely Armley Town Street. Two shops in fact, though we like to think of them as one shop because they are connected by a dark spooky corridor and the letting agents don’t seem to want to give us the keys to the other half (thats a whole different blog however). So after months and months of waiting we are now installed, the shop has its own project manager, Francesca Panella, and a fantastic team of handy andys (well, ellies, allys, beas and pauls actually) who have completed repainted, cleaned and buffed it into readiness for opening. The shop will feature a rolling programme of exhibitions and interactive events over the next 4 months we have teamed up with Leeds City Council and the armley town centre manager.
When does it start?…on Saturday 13 November!
The shops first event will be a live drawing event with artists Lou Sumray and Fabric Lenny. The artists will be locked up in the shop for the day with only cups of tea and a packet of biscuits for sustenance, peeking out of the huge shop windows, they will be drawing in response to the wonderful world of Armley passing by outside. Lou will be drawing onto paper using chalk while Fabric Lenny will be drawing onto a graphics tablet and his work will be projected onto a screen in the window of the shop.
Also coming up for November….
Looking Good, Armley is a fantastic photography project with the folks at exposureleeds and is a chance for armleyites to show the side of Armley they love best. The project will kick off with an exhibition of pictures of Armley shopkeepers and on the 20 November they will host a photowalk, (which we think is a bit like a treasurehunt but with a camera). Details and images of the project can be found on the Looking Good, Armley website.
Inside the shop for November we are really pleased to have an exhibition by Marina De Stacpoole. Her visually striking large-scale images focus on globalisation and use digital techniques to mix fiction with real life.
And if that isnt enough we have a regular Tuesday lunch time project Local Voices, collecting audio stories and snippets from passersby to collect into Armleys own audiowalk, which will be available to download in the spring.
Still more? yes.. we have festive workshops on Thur 25 & Tue 30 Nov 3-5pm from Unity Garden and Gemma from Buns and Roses in making christmas cards, decorations, lanterns and goodies.
There is tons tons more, but i think for now i’ll leave you with just this not insubstantial buffet of November delights…
We are still programming jan and feb in the shop so if you have an idea for an event or installation or you have artwork you think might be good to show off then get in touch for a chat…and who knows we might even have some keys to the other half of the shop by then!
Hopefully see you in Armley!
Look out on the shop window for the big pink vinyl telling you whats coming up next…
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Yay so excited to be part of this! Hoping lots of lovely people come along to my sessions and make a Christmas card!
Hey,
Really looking forward to this – I will definitely pop in.
Is it open on Sundays too?
And whatever happened to this years Charming Armley Cake Competition? I was hoping for a third-time-lucky entry!
Sounds fabulous! Will do my best to pop in 🙂 x
Thanks chaps for the comments, The shop isnt currently planned to be open on sundays, Town st is fairly dead for sunday trade and we just dont have the staff to man it im afraid, though you should still be able to see stuff in the windows even when the shutters are down. We have just had a fantastic day of live drawing with Lou Sumray and Fabric Lenny who were surely the fastest draw in the west that day with their rapid sketches of armley life as it wizzed by the window. Lou’s stuff can be seen now in the windows of the Corner shop unit and Fabric Lennys stuff will be up shortly on video loop.
Jane
Stuff now uploaded onto the fest site from saturdays live draw event.
A bit of preliminary info about the Drag and Shop weekend in January.
Er, this one works
OOoooh! This excites me so so much, will be sure to tell the parents, who seem to be eternally complaining that ANOTHER pawn brokers has opened on Armley Town Street….
Here’s the new Facebook event for The 12 Cakes of Christmas exhibition (yes, you are allowed to eat the cake!)
I’ve just got a new job in Armley, only ever been there twice before- for the interviews! This looks great, will definitely come and visit in my lunch breaks. I’m hoping you guys will convince me to Love West Leeds too- I’m very much on the side of the North at the moment 🙂
Hi folks,
look out in the big pink poster thing on the window whats on, we cant open everyday (we just dont have enough staff) but there is lots coming up…
workshops over the next couple of weeks, an ace installation for babies and a cake extravaganza on the 18th Dec…
jane