Our Beginning
Foxglove is Jane Earnshaw and Abby Dix-Mason. We have been creating, commissioning and producing arts projects for over 20 years. Between us we have collaborated with artists and communities to produce work in parks, shopping centres, universities, swimming pools, museums, public spaces, bridges, castles, festivals, canals, playgrounds, libraries, schools, train stations and traditional arts venues.
Smeaton300: The Art of Engineering
Smeaton300 is our major two year programme beginning in 2023 and completing in December 2024. John Smeaton was the UK’s first Civil Engineer and his story begins and ends in Leeds yet reaches around the globe. Three hundred years after his birth our world is still shaped by John Smeaton’s engineering projects and collaborative ways of working.
The blueprint for lighthouses, waterwheels, bridges, ports, canals, observatories and windmills are all part of John Smeaton’s incredible legacy and he is acknowledged as the father of civil engineering in the UK.
Smeaton300 is a creative events programme inspired by the work of Leeds born John Smeaton, the UK’s first Civil Engineer. The S300 programme, underpinned by Smeaton’s ethos of creating works for the public good, is a dynamic collaboration between artists, scientists, engineers, designers and the people of Leeds. It is an opportunity for anyone to get playful with engineering, explore the role of science in art and to understand how Leeds engineering past has shaped its identity today.
Smeaton300 in 2023
Smeaton300 began in 2023 during Leeds Year of Culture and included our major artist commission, Moon Palace; a stunning mobile observatory inspired by Smeaton's lifelong passion for astronomy. Moon Palace was designed by artists Heather Peak and Ivan Morison and co-produced with East Leeds Project and Leeds 2023.
Alongside the tour, a programme of talks and debates featuring some of today’s most inventive minds from across engineering, science, industry and art got us thinking big. And, looking to the future, an innovative learning programme inspired tomorrow’s creative thinkers and engineers.
Smeaton300 in 2024
Our Smeaton300 programme continues in 2024 with our University Of Leeds partnership.
The programme, delivered with the Cultural Institute and the School of Engineering will bring together arts and engineering to celebrate Smeaton’s legacy with a series of curated events on campus and beyond. Highlights iclude an exhibition by Leeds-based Iranian artist Mohammad Barrangi, Smeaton300 Light Night on campus commissions, Be Curious public engagement workshops, Creative Labs commissions for artists and engineers, a Stage@Leeds production of The Tempest focussing on the global climate crisis and the School of Music’s first-ever ensemble-in-residence.
