Leeds Art Gallery launches crowdfunding campaign

The gallery's iconic stairwell will be transformed by artist Lothar Götz if a fundraising target is achieved by 18 May

Feature by The Skinny North | 18 Apr 2017

Art lovers can help bring one of Lothar Götz's most ambitious commissions to date to Leeds Art Gallery, by contributing to a crowdfunding campaign launched today.

The proposed work would see the building's striking Victorian staircase immersed in vibrant colour, painted directly onto the walls, ready for the grand reopening of the gallery in October after a period of closure due to renovation.

Götz's large-scale abstract mural will link the upper and lower galleries, drawing the visitor's eye from the entrance's original features (dating from 1888) to the newly light-filled spaces above and highlighting the interplay between old and new.

"Will transform the heart of Leeds Art Gallery"

“Staircases provide the veins of a building, immersing the visitor spatially in a different way to that of the traditional gallery space,” comments Götz. “I am interested in how an artwork can be experienced by one's whole body, the image changing constantly as one moves up or down the stairs.”

“Our commission with Lothar Götz will transform the heart of Leeds Art Gallery,” adds the gallery's principal keeper Sarah Brown, “creating a unique and stunning work that will have a dramatic impact on visitors’ experience of the gallery when we re-open in October.”

To realise the commission, Leeds Art Gallery is seeking to raise £17,000 in 30 days via the Art Fund charity's Art Happens crowdfunding platform. A range of different rewards are offered to supporters of the campaign, from items designed by the artist to a framed, limited-edition print.

If you'd like to support the project, you can find out more and donate here.


Leeds Art Gallery reopens to the public on 13 October 2017.

@LeedsArtGallery