Calling all Northern artists! The New Light Summer Exhibition Of The North 2025

Artists from across the North of England are invited to submit works for a major exhibition in Leeds this summer. The New Light Summer Exhibition of the North is generously sponsored by McInroy & Wood, long term sponsor of the New Light Charity.

Artists accepted will see their work exhibited at Sunny Bank Mills, Leeds’ biggest arts and cultural hub which is based in a former textile mill in Farsley, West Leeds. Last year’s New Light Art Prize Exhibition, which was seen at five venues across the North, attracted over 66,000 visitors. As Bradford celebrates its City of Culture 2025 status and plays host to the Turner Prize, we’re aiming to extend the focus on the North’s artistic talent with this Summer exhibition which will also include sculpture. Sunny Bank Mills is only 4 miles from Bradford and the area creates a wonderful creative destination for visitors.

Each judge will curate their own distinctive selection of artworks, making the exhibition curatorially interesting, attracting a range of interpretation and creative engagement and sparking exciting public debate. We aim to bring a focus to emerging artists from across the North to help to introduce them to a new audience. Gallery directors and curators from across the North and London will visit the exhibition to seek new and emerging artists. Each of the 9 Summer Exhibition judges will award a bursary of £500 to their chosen overall winning artist.

To enter an artwork, artists are asked to submit their entries online via the New Light website click here. Entrants will be notified of whether or not they have been shortlisted on 23rd May 2025.

William Gaunt, joint Managing Director of Sunny Bank Mills says:

“We are really excited to work with New Light to create this new ambitious show for the North. An exhibition of this scale presents a wonderful opportunity for the public to view and buy the very best art that the North can offer – all under one roof! The excellent judging panel ensures that the standard of the art selected will genuinely be the best. And the show provides the artists with a valuable selling opportunity, exposing their work to a wide audience.”

Liz Wild, Investment Director at McInroy & Wood in Harrogate says

“As long-standing supporters of the arts, McInroy & Wood recognises the vital role art plays in the fabric of our society. Our relationship with New Light is now in its seventh year and we are delighted to support the charity with this new Summer Exhibition. Sunny Bank Mills is a wonderful venue to stage the exhibition - bringing together the creative legacy of the region with some of today’s finest Northern Artists.”