Think.Play.Do

About

In the form of plans, sketches, maquettes and prototypes, the artists’ proposals will help us ask the question ‘What if…?’

The project has emerged in response to a lack of high-quality play facilities anywhere within Leeds’ city centre. In the medium term, The Tetley aims to commission these from a contemporary artist or artists’ group, and to contribute to the development of new high-quality, liveable public realm in the emergent ‘South Bank Leeds’ area, one of the largest regeneration projects in Europe.

Here we present the first step on this journey: blue-sky thinking from a range of artists interested in the public realm, sculptural form, and intergenerational play. The artists were invited to ‘start at the beginning’ and not to be constrained at this stage by real-world practicalities. Some of the projects will develop during the run of the exhibition, which is accompanied by a range of workshops and events devised by the artists. After the exhibition, some of the ideas will be taken to a design development stage, in tandem with fundraising for the commission.

The exhibition also includes contributions from our Art Smart Superstars after school club members and,the Lab Space will give visitors the chance to join in with Dawn Todd’s interactive Laikin’ Place project to share your ideas too.

A micro-site www.thinkplaydo.org will document the project during and after the exhibition, with posts by the artists and curators, alongside news on the events programme and how to get involved.

Think.Play.Do. forms part of our ‘Summer of Play’ season. Pick up a Summer of Play guide for full details on all of the events, activities and projects at The Tetley over summer and look out for Jem Finer’s sculpture Spiegelei (2010), in its new home at The Tetley in the urban setting of Brewery Green on loan from Yorkshire Sculpture Park.

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Supported by the John S Cohen Foundation.