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Tender Coven: The Monthly Subscription Box That Merges Wxtchcraft and Support for Emerging Artists

Alex Stubbs catches up with artist, curator and educator Wingshan Smith to discuss Tender Coven, an online community and monthly subscription spell box that merges wxtchcraft with support for emerging artists...

The Island: Trekkah Benjamin on His New Project with Nottingham Community Arts Network Aiming to Support Young Males with Mental Health Issues

Through his charity organisation C.A.N, artist Trekkah Benjamin has launched a crowdfunding campaign to fund a program that aims to help young men in communicating mental health issues...

Shaun Hoolan, New Owner of Hockley Vintage Store Wild Clothing, on Preserving the Shop's Legacy

Wild Clothing first opened its doors in 1983 and, when its original owners decided to retire recently, word spread that the legendary location would be shutting its doors for good. But this couldn’t be further from the truth: our fashion editor, Anna Murphy, chats to Wild’s new owner, Shaun Hoolan, about his passion for this iconic Nottingham store and his plans for the future.

Nottingham BID Secure New 5-Year Term

The Nottingham Business Improvement District (BID) has been successful in securing the votes required for a new five year term from 2021 to 2025, having received the overwhelming backing of businesses in Nottingham.

Lakeside Art's Djanogly Gallery Reopens with Mat Collishaw Exhibition

After closing doors in March due to the pandemic, Lakeside Arts will be reopening from Saturday 17 October with the first major solo exhibition of a Notts-born contemporary artist… 

Art Preview: The Near Room at Bonington Gallery

Muhammad Ali described “The Near Room” as a mental space he would enter during a boxing match – an otherworldly state where you are accutley aware of your own mortality. Sophie Cundale’s new moving-image work, The Near Room (2020), gives substance to this imagined space. Set in a vivid hallucination in the mind of a disorientated boxer, The Near Room muddles historic references with the fantastical and supernatural...

Nottingham Arts and Culture Venues Given Government Funding Lifeline with Culture Recovery Fund

Seventeen organisations have received combined funding totalling over £4.5 million to help with post-COVID recovery...

Framework Have Launched Their Homeless to Home Appeal

The charity have been working tirelessly throughout the pandemic, and this appeal explains why the work they do is so vital to Nottingham’s homeless population…

Burra Khana Have Got a Tantalizing New Menu - And You Can Get a Mega Discount

Delicious and discounted? Yes please. 

Under Cover Artist: Kate Sharp

Local artist and LeftLion regular Kate Sharp was kind enough to take a crack at our October cover, and I’m sure you’ll agree that she did a beautiful job. Here’s what inspired it...

Nusic New Music Podcast #234 with Scorzayzee, Project Zeus, Blle, Karizma and More...

This week’s New Music Podcast features Mark’s most humiliating moment since starting Nusic, new music from not one, but three of NG’s most respected MC’s, plus advice on how to cope with the mind fuckery that is being a musician.

This podcast may contain some fruity language. Sensitive ears – you have been warned.

MOAN Zine on Female Pleasure, Illustration and This Month's Cover

Since 2018, MOAN has been exploring female pleasure through the perspective of women. After two successful issues and this month’s LeftLion cover, we chat to the woman behind it all about how it all began, receiving and illustrating stories around desire, and what the future holds for MOAN...

The Chimera Plantarium Project Are Working with Primary School Kids to Create Art

Lenton locals may have spotted the remnants of The Chimera Plantarium Project on Church Drive. Two vividly coloured and curiously shaped murals command a presence that hints towards their leafy beginnings and leaves passers-by turning their heads. They are just some of the work delivered by artist Chiara Dellerba and the children from Years 5 and 6 at Edna G. Olds Academy, as part of Primary’s Making Place project. Working together, they explored and created artwork based on the idea of spontaneous plants – wild, urban flora. Spontaneous plants are resilient creatures and their perseverance to thrive almost anywhere, even in abandoned, overlooked, or routinely neglected areas, is something us humans could learn from. We spoke to Chiara, to find out more about the project…

Nusic New Music Podcast #233 with Megatrain, Chloe Rodgers, Bru-C, The Crying Violets and More

This week’s New Music Podcast features the Nottingham artist getting love from 1Xtra, free career advice for musicians, plus the Notts MC who’s just hit one million monthly listeners on Spotify.

This podcast may contain some fruity language. Sensitive ears – you have been warned.

Artist Mitch Proctor, a.k.a Bon Idle, on his new comic: Henshin

Nine years ago, a mysterious explosion plunged a city into a seemingly endless blackout. That is, until a Mark Zuckerburg-like tech billionaire rebuilt it into a futuristic metropolis – but to Journalism student Alex, this shady figure’s motivations don’t quite ring true. Alex’s hunch soon thrusts him into a world of superheroes and monsters in Henshin, a new series from Notts-based artist Mitch Proctor, a.k.a. Bon Idle...

Notes From a Mental Health Nurse: The New Normal

Our resident mental health nurse returns with advice on how to cope with life post-lockdown...

Homegrown: A Glimmer of Summer this bank holiday

DHP Family have announced their new Homegrown festival, which will be taking place at the Arboretum this bank holiday Monday (31 August).

Leading From the Back: The Backlit Artists Creating Exciting Projects

From its three-story base in the heart of Sneinton, BACKLIT is home to more than eighty studio artists, spanning a diverse range of practices, including fine art, contemporary craft and creative businesses. The independent, artist-led gallery has provided affordable studio spaces for artists, graduates and emerging local talent for almost twelve years. With the studio currently still closed to the public, we took a look around to find out more about some of their exciting artists, including what they’ve been up to during lockdown...

Notts-Born Singer-Songwriter Natalie Duncan on Her New Album, Free

There aren’t many things in life that are a given these days. One exception, however, is the guaranteed beauty of a new album release by Notts-born singer songwriter Natalie Duncan. Free, which was released on 31 July this year, is Nat’s first full-length album since 2012, and is full of her customary soul-infused melodies and candid lyrics. Featuring tracks written over a number of years since 2012, it’s one heck of an expansive record, brimming with vivacity and ambition. We caught up with Nat to chat about her Notts roots, the new record and her musical life in the age of COVID-19….

Under Cover Artist: Stuart Jones

We’re back in print with a bang, and Stuart Jones’ cover – a love-letter to all things print – is the cherry on top of this 48-page cake. We chat with this month’s cover artist to find out more about his work...

Fancy Learning Something New? Confetti's Accessible Foundation Courses Have Got You Covered

During lockdown, many people have been using the time to reflect on what they want to do in life. If you’ve been one of them and are fancying a career change or even just want to learn something new, why not get yourself on one of Confetti’s courses... 

Nottingham Arts Mela Returns to the New Art Exchange for Its 32nd Year

As Nottingham Mela Network, in partnership with New Art Exchange, gets ready to celebrate the 32nd year of Nottingham Arts Mela in the UK, Alex Stubbs previews the exciting, eclectic online programme of cooking, films featuring South Asian diaspora worldwide, music, dance, debates, poetry and spoken word, family art workshops, murals, archives activated, morning raags and yoga…

The Young Hustlers Are A Brand-New Panel of Teens Putting Their Stamp on the City's Future

Meet Nottingham’s Young Hustlers, a group of six 13-16 year olds looking to make their mark on the city’s creative future…

Left Magpie: Home Improvements

During Lockdown, I became particularly partial to home improvement programmes. There was something quite therapeutic, during a time of intense instability and incoherence, watching someone making sense out of chaos by turning a decommissioned Soviet missile into a glamping pod.

Art Works: Naa Ahinee Mensah

Artist Naa Ahinee Mensah tells us about her George Floyd triptych...