The People’s Gallery – Protest & Pride – Art as Resistance Exhibition

Not Just a Gallery — A Movement: The People’s Gallery Opens at The Mill Gallery with
a Radical, Community-Led Vision

Aire Place Studios (APS) is proud to announce the launch of The People’s Gallery, a bold
new strand of our creative programme, made possible with support from the People’s
Postcode Lottery. Hosted at The Mill Gallery in LS13, this exciting initiative is dedicated to
building spaces for creativity, care and collective authorship, shaped by the people who live,
make and resist here. The People’s Gallery sits alongside our main gallery programme and
is here to shake up how art happens in Leeds placing community voice, radical care and
creative action firmly at its heart. This isn’t about representation. It’s about redistribution.

“We’re not just inviting people into a gallery — we’re co-building a space where creativity is a
right, not a privilege,” says APS Director, Sarah Francis. “The People’s Gallery is a site of
radical joy, protest, paper, paint, and pride. This is where zines are sacred, banners are
brave, and community stories take centre stage. It’s not just about being seen it’s about
being heard, held, and honoured.” These values are at the core of everything we do, and
The People’s Gallery takes them even further with co-authored curatorial approaches,
embedded community-led storytelling, and radical care guiding the entire process. If
successful, the project will become a permanent part of APS and a new blueprint for
access-driven, artist-led, community-rooted curation in Leeds.

We launch on Friday 15 August with Protest & Pride – The Art of Protest, a powerful new
exhibition and workshop series that celebrates LGBTQIA+ creativity, protest and radical joy.
This space brings together artists who speak up, resist and connect through political
movements, personal defiance, righteous anger and joyful rebellion. We called for
submissions that explore protest in all its forms, and what came back was full of resilience,
rage, imagination and love. Because art can be protest and joy can be resistance too.
Running alongside the exhibition is Art of Protest: Creative Solidarity with the Trans
Community, a hands-on workshop programme featuring protest banner-making, artist-led
sessions, and drop-in support for LGBTQIA+ artists. Together, these events open a new
chapter in our mission to make art more accessible, inclusive and shaped by the people who
live here.

The year ahead will see The People’s Gallery unfold as a dynamic, community-led
programme. From zine-making workshops and zine libraries to local photography walks and
art activities for all ages, it’s about meeting people where they are, whether that’s through a
zine shelf in a community centre, a protest workshop in Bramley, or a storytelling drop-in in
Stanningley. We’re embedding mentoring, peer support and co-creation into the heart of the
programme, not as extras, but as foundations. This is a grassroots, trust-building project
rooted in LS13 and stretching into its surrounding communities, fuelled by lived experience
and collective creativity.

We’re calling on local groups, collectives and creatives to bring their ideas, stories and
visions to life within this space. Whether you want to lead a workshop, exhibit your work,
build a banner, or simply show up and create, The People’s Gallery is open to you. Through
co-designed open calls, free taster sessions and shared authorship, we are not just building
a gallery — we’re building community.

Join us for the opening on Friday 15th August from 6:30pm, where visitors can explore the
exhibition, enjoy great conversations, and purchase refreshments in a relaxed and
welcoming setting. Entry is free, but please book ahead of your visit using this link:
https://www.themillgallery.co.uk/events/protest-pride-art-as-resistance

Exhibition Details:
Title: Protest & Pride – Art as Resistance Exhibition
Dates: 15th August – 5th September 2025
Location: The Mill Gallery, Unit 5 Cardinal House, Swinnow Grange Mills, Leeds, LS13 4EP

Opening Event: Friday 15th August from 6:30pm. All are welcome.