BasementArtsProject is seeking corporate sponsorship
BasementArtsProject is looking to secure ongoing funding through corporate sources to ensure a viable future for this long-standing self-funded project.
My current position as Centre for Warmth co-ordinator at Involve Community Centre, South Leeds (two days per week) will end in March 2027.
I am also currently teaching on the BA Art at University Centre Leeds (one day a week - temporary long-term sick cover). This will most likely end at Christmas.
Without an income beyond this BasementArtsProject will, for the first time in 15 years, become unviable as I will be unable to finance it from my own pocket as I have been doing since 2011.We are looking to secure Core Funding of £29734.80 per year.
If we can find just four organisations willing to sponsor our activities this would work out at £7433.70 per organisation per year.
This would be enough to guarantee our continued existence.
The following breakdown describes what this would fund…
*BD Donation: depends upon the continuance of teaching opportunities
**Hypogeal Subscription/Artist Representation: these numbers can go down as well as up (although in the first two years of doing this they have only gone up so far).
***Auction/Commission: these are occasional figures
****Director Wage: to act as full-time Director, Curator, Project Manager, Designer, Web Design & Content Management, Marketing, Interpretation, Technician, Documentation & Archivist, Workshop Facilitator, Artist, Writer and in the case of the Lunchtime Conversation community events: Chief Cook and Bottle Washer.
Over the last Fifteen years BasementArtsProject has funded all of the aspects in tables 1 & 2, whilst I have supported my own unpaid hours through paid employment as the Senior Receptionist for the Henry Moore Institute and as an administrator in a local community centre.
The Income in table 3 indicates what I have generated through public sponsorship since March 2025. Whilst many subscribers choose the monthly / yearly rates of £12 & £30 we have had subscribers, many of whom I have never met based elsewhere in the UK and other parts of Europe and the US, that have taken yearly subscriptions with amounts ranging between £100 and £250. It is this service that I believe gives credence to peoples oft-stated desires that they really hope that we succeed.
I have also taken on the job of representing an artist which raises £100 per month for Basement.
The following is indicative of the amount of (unpaid) hours approximately that I have spent over the last 15 years keeping BasementArtsProject open to the public in relation to the paid work that has allowed me to keep it going. The cost of running, outside of donating my hours for free, includes the Overheads and In Kind listed on page 2. Tables 1 & 2
Bruce’s Work Schedule 2004-2023
Saturday - Monday BasementArtsProject (Opening Hours) 10am - 5pm
Tuesday - Friday Henry Moore Institute 9hrs (Paid)
BasementArtsProject Meetings -unpaid 1hr Lunch or after work on HMI days
Bruce’s Work Schedule 2023-2025
Monday 10am-2pm
Tuesday 10am-2pm
Wednesday 12-8pm
Thursday 10am-2pm
Friday 10am-2pm
Saturday 10am-2pm
Sunday 10am-2pm
Each day is roughly 10hrs (above is opening times).1 day off per week during exhibitions 2 between exhibitions. 6 exhibitions and 6 Lunchtime Conversation community events per year (average),does not include workshops which are funding dependant so vary. Each exhibition lasts for 1 month -except summer which lasts for 2 months and Christmas also 2 months.
Bruce’s Work Schedule 2025-Present
Monday BasementArtsProject 9am-5pm (Opening Hours 10am-2pm)+CfW 2hrs WFH
Tuesday Involve: Centre for Warmth (CfW) 9am-5pm
Wednesday BasementArtsProject 8am-8pm (Opening Hours 12-8pm)
Thursday University Centre Leeds: Mabgate: 10am-3pm
Friday Involve: Centre for Warmth 9am-5pm
Saturday BasementArtsProject 9am-6pm (Opening Hours 10am-2pm)+CfW 2hrs WFH
Sunday BasementArtsProject 9am-4pm (Opening Hours 10am-2pm)
+CfW 2.5hrs WFH
BasementArtsProject projects all done outside of opening hours on BasementArtsProject days
Henry Moore Institute was paid, and CfW and Teaching are paid at present.
All BasementArtsProject hours are voluntary and unpaid.
During the 2023-2025 period in which I was able to increase our opening hours by being present in the space the number of Visitors increased significantly.
The Work schedules proposed on the opposite page are indicative of the two ideals that I would like to achieve.
“Having followed the work of BasementArtsProject for over 10 years now, l have no doubt that it’s one of the most important and dedicated cultural entities in the whole of Leeds, let alone South Leeds..”
Bruce’s Proposed Work Schedules 2027 onwards based on funding
BasementArtsProject Schedule 1
Monday 10am-2pm
Tuesday 10am-2pm
Wednesday 12-8pm
Thursday 10am-2pm
Friday 10am-2pm
Saturday 10am-2pm
Sunday 10am-2pm
Each day would be roughly 10hrs: the reality is of course I finish when the jobs are done as has always been the case. (above is opening times).
1 day off per week during exhibitions 2 between exhibitions. 6 exhibitions and 6 Lunchtime Conversation community events per year (average),does not include workshops which are funding dependant so vary. Each exhibition lasts for 1 month -except summer which lasts for 2 months and Christmas for 2 months.
BasementArtsProject + 1 day teaching Schedule 2*
Monday 10am-2pm
Tuesday 10am-2pm
Wednesday 12-8pm
Thursday Teaching
Friday 10am-2pm
Saturday 10am-2pm
Sunday 10am-2pm
The same details as above apply except for the 1 day of teaching. This would of course be dependent upon the availability of teaching work. Money earned from the teaching would go directly back into BasementArtsProject.
Schedule 2 would be my preferred schedule
All money raised through the subscriptions would form the basis for match funding of grant applications needed to specifically achieve the larger public art projects.
*I feel that my continued close links with Primary, Secondary and Further Education bolsters the community’s links with Higher Education and the potential to create pathways, and that this would work towards an increase in the take up of places locally as people gain skills and interests.
Context for this proposal
BasementArtsProject is located in South Leeds an area of extreme deprivation; in the lowest 1% of the country economically speaking and with significant issues around homelessness, addiction, anti-social behaviour and a low take up of places in further education, despite more provision being made for it than in many other areas.
We are guided by the principles that:
Productivity stems from creativity
Creativity stems from aspiration
Aspiration stems from hope
Hope stems from a vision of what the future can look like
A vision for what the future can look like stems from being able to see beyond tomorrow
Our programme includes exhibitions, experimental film screenings, talks, music/sound art events, workshops and the Lunchtime Conversation; a regular free event in which the public get to have lunch with whoever our current artist may be before being given a tour around their exhibition. With all of these elements and more we have created a sophisticated, thoughtful, playful, encouraging and informal programme in which those of no prior knowledge can engage as can those from an academic or art background.
Within the context of the varied and contradictory aspects of our existence, BasementArtsProject is a project that is about creativity, productivity, hope and aspiration. Our work has transcended boundaries between the art, local and homeless communities in a way that has engendered a mutual respect between its very different facets.
It is my belief that as a society, the much vaunted notion of productivity is stymied by a lack of meaning and crucially hope. I believe that meaning is essential to human productivity, in the present more than ever before, and it is meaning that permits hope and aspiration which in turn encourages meaningful productivity.
For fifteen years BasementArtsProject has worked with these principles in mind. We have succeeded in ALL that we have turned our hand to with a certain degree of sustainability baked in to the process. Our work has allowed us to build trust within the local community as well as with the Artists with whom we work. This has been done at great cost to myself due to the one area in which we have not yet found success; Financial support.
BasementArtsProject is FREE for artists to use, many of whom are early career artists from working class backgrounds and it is FREE for visitors to come and experience our, admittedly unusual, but always engaging concept.
It is essential that our project is free to visit as it gives the local community a place in which they can not only engage with the arts in an environment free of hierarchy and judgement, but crucially each other as well. Poverty prevents people from travelling to art events as it is seen as non-essential, but given the chance people will engage with projects if there is no financial outlay. Many do not travel as far as the city centre that we are on the edge of for this very reason.
BasementArtsProject puts art on the doorstep.
Since April 2011 our venue has seen 6.5k visitors come through our door to visit exhibitions; we are a very small venue, so this is a very big figure. 40% of this figure have come from the local community. The other 60% is made up of Leeds Art, UK and international visitors.
We have also created an outdoor sculpture garden for the community which gets an average of 20-30 visitors per day during the summer months. This park is located at the heart of South Leeds opposite BasementArtsProject and is open to the public 24hrs a day, 7days a week, 365 days a year. The project converted a piece of land that had become a magnet for extreme antisocial behaviour, drug taking/dealing, prostitution, fly tipping and worse into a place were people have picnics, let their children play, take breaks from work in the shops nearby or simply wait for the bus.
“Basement Arts Project and Bruce have provided engaging and high-quality public art and exhibitions for many years - while based in the heart of one of the most socially deprived communities, not just in Leeds, but the country. They have delivered both quality and engaging work, working with a wide range artists, all while engaging the public in co-creation and project development.
Basement Arts project is one of the the hidden gems of South Leeds.”
COMMUNITY OUTREACH AND LINKS
Art as an inseparable part of daily life.
Alongside the art aspect we are looking at ways to build in other related community activities.
Part of my job as BasementArtsProject is to litter pick ‘The Corner’ Pocket Sculpture Park and the three streets surrounding it and BasementArtsProject. This is a visible act of cleaning and maintenance that on occasion encourages others to join in, or at least not make a mess. It is also my opportunity to talk to those passing about Basement, Jacob’s Ladder and the creation of ‘The Corner’.
One of the jobs that I have had to forgo since taking on employment elsewhere is the GO TaRA (Garnet and Oakley Tenants and Residents Association) which I set up to address the cleanliness of the public realm on this corner -not just three streets but a sizeable triangular chunk of streets bounded by Tunstall, Dewsbury and Garnet Road. I would like to return to the community as a permanent presence to reignite this aspect of the project.
I have also generated interest in an idea to create raised beds/edible/herb gardens on ‘The Corner’ as a community gardening project. Many of the residents of the GO TaRA area shown above do not have access to private gardens and have expressed an interest in gardening as part of a process restoring mental and physical wellbeing.
“This little known gallery has become a cornerstone of the Leeds Art Scene through its display of weird and wonderful, solo and group shows.”
A SELECTION OF OUR MAJOR ACHIEVEMENTS so far…
PMSA 3D Journal
2015 Public Monuments and Sculpture Association feature my interview with Artist/stone sculptor Dominic Hopkinson based on his exhibition ‘A Harmony of Spheres’ at BasementArtsProject in their online sculpture journal 3D.
Dominic Hopkinson MRSS
2015 Dominic Hopkinson is invited to become a member of The Royal Society of Sculptors.
Edinburgh Fringe Festival
2016 Sara Zaltash takes her performance ‘Sweetmud’, developed at Basement ArtsProject in 2011, to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.
Turner Prize Shortlist 2024
2017 Delaine Le bas performs at BasementArtsProject as part of The Hysterical Oracle exhibition by Stephanie Ballantine. In 2024 Delaine was shortlisted for theTurner Prize and her work was exhibited at Tate Britain as part of this.
Venice Architecture Biennele
2018 Dominic Hopkinson is invited to exhibit work at the Venice Architecture Biennale based on work from his 2016 exhibition ‘A Study of Aperiodic Tiling with special reference to the 3rd dimension’ at BasementArtsProject
The Corner Pocket Sculpture Park
2019 - 2022 BasementArtsProject create ‘The Corner’ Pocket Sculpture Park which includes the specially commissioned 9ft/7tonne Tadcaster limestone sculpture ‘Jacob’s Ladder’ by Leeds based Artist/stone sculptor Keith Ackerman.
Charity Sale
2023 10 year old artist James Tortice raises £500 for Autism ADHD charity with sale of his artworks in The Basement. He is featured on Blue Peter and Look North
Upcoming Projects for Basement Programme 2027/28/29
(in development)
Evie Black (Sheffield)
Claire Angel Bonner (Italy) / Moni Escobar (Leeds)/ Ranaa Farooq (Sheffield)
Meg Erridge (Leeds)
Rory Flynn (Leeds)
Good Grief: Kate Jennings / Hayley Mills-Styles / Edek Thompson (Leeds)
Parham Ghalamdar (Sheffield)
Jay Gilleard (CBloxx) (Hudderfield/USA)
Lou Hazelwood (Hull)
Kate Jennings (Leeds)
Jeffrey Knopf (Manchester)
Kseniya Oudenot (London)
Paul Raymond (Newcastle)
Alegria Repila Smith (Oxford)
Robin Stones (Leeds)
Sluice Expo (Various Artists/Various Venues)
BasementArtsProject’s Ongoing Public Realm Projects
CBloxx | As yet untitled
Garnet/Tunstall Road Mural
Due for completion by 31st March 2027
Dominic Hopkinson | Nature of Balance
(1.5tonne sculpture in Black Kilkenny Limestone)
2005 sculpture donated to BasementArtsProject by the Artist.
We are currently negotiating a piece of land with KnightFrank adjacent to our last public sculpture project ‘The Corner’ Pocket Sculpture Park/Jacob’s Ladder by Keith Ackerman.
Annabelle Richmond-Wright | I’ve Got You/You’ve Got Me
Mixed-media sculpture based on a height of 7ft approx for the traffic lights at the junction of Dewsbury and Tunstall Road
Workshops with schools and community centres completed during 2025. Currently in design stage and seeking funding for production.
Billboard Project
A series of billboards (Orientation: 4 landscape (steel) 4 portrait (1 steel 3 wood) to be located near the junction of Tunstall and Dewsbury Road)
Steel cases designed for an ongoing series of artist commissions
Wooden cases to be an ongoing community participation painting project
Future Directions for these (and other) projects
South Leeds Art Trail
The four ongoing pieces mentioned above, plus ‘Jacob’s Ladder’ will form the basis for a South Leeds Art Trail and associated map
South Leeds Art Map
A map connecting all of these to other murals in the area and landmarks such as Yinka Shonibare (also in South Leeds) that creates a link to the art organisations of the city such as Leeds Art Gallery, Henry Moore Institute, Stanley & Audrey Burton Gallery et al.
Art Walk
A South Leeds Art Walk aimed at encouraging engagement with art in the local community whilst improving mental & physical wellbeing, eventually creating a physical link with the art of the city via the new South Bank development.
Praise for BasementArtsProject
What the community says…
“We are very privileged to have Basement Arts in South Leeds. You cannot imagine that it exists in what looks like an ordinary house in a area such as this. Very ambitious plans for the Jacob Ladder sculpture seemed unbelievable when I first heard about them. A sculpture here , not in town ? Interesting reading in the article of all the different kinds of people who have watched this project progress. Many other people would love to have had an opportunity to see any sculpture progressing. The experience has touched people’s lives in a way that no-one can predict. Thank you to all involved , changing lives in a different way.”
“A miracle south of the Aire”
“I’m back in Budapest, but I wanted you to know I came by the pocket sculpture park to see Jacob’s Ladder.
I was really, really amazed at what you all pulled off, especially since last time I was there it was still in the planning stages.
I came by early Saturday morning, so I didn’t want to bother you and your family at home. Anyway, my visit there was a highlight of my trip.
Again, what a fantastic realization of the concept you were planning.
Afterwards, I even went by the Leeds Minster just to see their Jacob’s Ladder glass etching that I found on my last trip there.
Keep up the good work”
“Graeme and I thought BasementArtsProject is a really exciting idea and look forward to seeing more of the exhibitions on show. If one of the aims is to build local engagement with art then its working well. (via mailing list)”
“Kristina Nenova | Wintering (Lunchtime Conversation)
This was our first visit to the Basement Arts Project and we booked onto the lunch and conversation with the artist Kristina Nenova. Whilst Bruce and Kristina prepared our lunch we sat around a cozy kitchen table with sculptor Keith and another gentleman who had moved from London to West Yorkshire a year or so ago and hadn’t regretted it. It was a lunchtime that I won’t easily forget. The atmosphere in the kitchen enabled us strangers, to chat, share stories of time in India, the origins of humous as well as the creation of the Basement Arts Project. Kristina’s Bulgarian hearty lentil soup (natures penicillin) was a treat to eat, as was sampling her homemade cordials.
Kristina’s exhibition consisted of jars of pickled vegetables and incorporated photographs and memories. Another interesting object had also been pickled and the explanation was poignant, thought provoking and deeply moving. Themes of identity, heritage, culture, recipes, traditions, the work had so much depth. Having the opportunity to chat to the artist brought her work to life and left us talking about it for a long after we left.
A walk over the road to see Jacob’s Ladder and the benches was a real joy, not only an amazing piece of sculpture but the meaning behind it, the fact that it was made in situ with help from the locals was heart warming to hear. This kind of community art should be praised, supported, encouraged and properly funded. Keep up the good work Basement Arts Project.”
“Kristina Nenova | Wintering (Lunchtime Conversation)
Many thanks for making me so welcome. It was great to talk about the future and see the exhibition. When I got home I made a Bulgarian(esque) stew and added the pickles to it. They were delicious. I even used some of my precious Bulgarian seasoning – when I was there every meal seemed to have this wonderful seasoning of fenugreek, salt and …. (ingredients unknown to me) I have searched online but to no avail so I have to use the small amount I have left sparingly! ”
“Dominic Hopkinson | Lunchtime Conversation.
The lunchtime conversation was great,really friendly and welcoming. I really learnt a lot from the artist Dominic, his passion really shone through. Such a gem of a place in Beeston, with such a fantastic concept, we are so lucky!”
What the artists say…
“As an artist and curator, I have worked with Bruce Davies on various projects since 2014. Bruce has the ability to create a positive working atmosphere due to his approachable manner and accessible way of working, and this is evidenced by our continued professional relationship.
He also listens to the thoughts and ideas of others, making for a positive experience that greatly benefits any project we have worked on together. In 2020 I opened an art gallery of my own, and my approach to curating and ability to engage with the artists involved in exhibitions has been greatly informed by my time working with Bruce.
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““Everyone was super pleased with how you handled everything and thought you were extraordinarily helpful throughout the whole process. We’re super thankful for the time you gave us. Jonny’s exact words to your message were that he wishes you were one of his lecturers at uni” (via Instagram Messenger)”
“BasementArtsProject flies under the radar of most large scale public art spaces in Leeds, yet maybe because of this, or despite this, it punches above its weight, showing an eclectic range of work from student/early career artists to the well established.
I first came across the space in 2015 and Bruce and I set about organising a show of my work. Having a curator you trust, with the right kind of critical eye is vital in getting the best out of an artist, and Bruce’s approach was just such a process. Out of the show, entitled “A Harmony of Spheres” Bruce wrote up an interview about the work and got it published on the 3rd dimension website, a process I had not undergone with previous exhibitions.
A year later, Claire Burnett the Director of the Royal Society of Sculptors, having read this piece online, invited me to stand for election to the Society, and I was duly elected a member. While many would scoff at such a distinction it has proven valuable to my subsequent career, since my acceptance into the society has led to an invitation to show at a sculpture park in the Cotswolds, selling work there and latterly an invitation to exhibit a piece of work at the 2018 Venice Architecture Biennale, curated by Global Art Affairs and supported by the European Cultural Centre.
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“Just to say, I love getting your email, I think what you’re doing is sensational. I’m sure it’s exhausting but knowing BasementArtsProject is alive and kicking makes my life better. ”
“I’ve had the privilege of working with Bruce as an Artist on several exhibitions over the past 8 years as well as attending many other exhibitions and events at or run by BasementArtsProject. Bruce has great creative intuition and insight, grounded in a broad and deep knowledge of artists and artistic movements based on extensive and continuous reading, writing, gallery and studio visits, and personal interactions. Never have I met someone who more fully embodies the concept of life long learning.
Bruce wears this great knowledge and experience lightly, never dominating discussions, but listening warmly and attentively, intermittently offering interesting and appropriate insights and ideas. As a Curator Bruce tends to work with a light touch (yet always willing to have a deeper conversation if called upon) somehow managing to say just the right thing at the right time to pull a project together and give it a more coherent form and greater impact, amplifying the artists voice with his curatorial input without constraining or crushing the flow of ideas.
I’ve seen Bruce pull off these light touch curatorial project transformations again and again over the years, both in my own work with him and in his work with others.”
“Great space to present and see art; this long running project showcases local, national and international artists. Part of Leeds’ long artist history, this interesting venue is curated by someone who actually cares about creative expression, as a host who supports the artist vision.”
“Thank you very much for the tour round and explanation of the Paul Walsh exhibition which I found both moving and thought provoking.
I think it is an excellent exhibition which works very well in the special atmosphere of BasementArtsProject .”
“I strongly believe that opportunities like the ones Bruce made available to students encourages them to stay in the city which helps to grow the local art community, Bruce understands this and not only creates opportunities but actually gives the artists proper support to develop their work. Unfortunately, at the time not many other spaces seemed to understand this and led to a lot of people I knew, myself including leaving the city. I’ve since gone on to open and run Depot Art Studios in Manchester, providing a space for artists to work in and at times exhibit. I’ve also exhibited many times in the UK as well as internationally and I would credit Bruce for being a part of helping me form a foundation to build on, and see how it’s possible to create opportunities for artists.”
“I love your setup and the way you open up your house to people. Many people say it but you actually do it...making a huge difference to your community and the art scene. Strictly DIY and with no compromise - you sir are punk as ****!”