Breaking from our ‘top five’ theme, here’s a run-down of some of our gorgeous rooms and the artists who created them. We couldn’t possibly play favourites, now, could we?
If you’ve paid us a visit, you’ll know that we boast beautiful art in all of our rooms, down the hallways and even in the bathrooms! We think we’re one of the best art hostels out there (if not the best!) and we wouldn’t be anywhere without the amazing artists who agreed to work with us. Here’s what makes our hostel unique.
Stranger In Pink – Precious Art Collective
Stranger In Pink, or what is more commonly referred to as ‘the pink room’, is a favourite with our guests. The pink room is surreal. It’s fun. It’s fluffy and wacky and just so pink! Thirteen different shades of pink to be precise.
The pink room is generally a winner with guests because of its amazing brightness. We love the contrast of the immense pink with accents of green from what we fondly refer to as the ‘mirror monster’, as well as the painterly abstract design on the window.
We’ve had some mixed responses though, as you might expect from a room almost entirely comprised of such a politicised colour. A particular hilarious occasion was a conversation between two burley builders over the pros and cons of a pink room with a shower or a Victorian style room with a shared bathroom and twin beds that could potentially be pushed together.
You can find out more about the Precious Art Collective, here. They’re a group of six artists who advocate ‘community and freedom from elitism in art’. Their pink bedroom here at the hostel showcases the collective’s cheeky side – and our guests just love it!
The Fred Dibnah Suite – Drew Millward
Most of our guests choose this room because they want to be in an affordable, small dorm room; still great value but a less chance of being disturbed by snoring! But from the name, some questions arise, namely: ‘Who is Fred Dibnah?’
With guests from all over the world, it is often a difficult question to answer, with few cultural points of reference for guidance. Over the past two years there have been many attempts at explaining who Fred Dibnah is, including some very bad impressions and often leading to a quick internet search and a show and tell of one of the many ‘How to…’ videos that come up.
Drew Millward’s work is so captivating because of its instant connection to heritage, to the industrial landscape and colloquial references, which are then matched by an otherworldly quality. So it’s no wonder that his client list boasts many of our favourite places in Leeds: Bundobust, Brudenell and Northern Monk, as well as big names like Nike, Arctic Monkeys and Kapitol Skateboards.
When putting the room together it was a given that Drew would include his awesome prints, but we’re most impressed with the curtains and wallpaper, with have a different repeating pattern on each.
Our little hostel was the first time that Drew had worked in this way and we love the result. We also love the fact that Drew has continued to explore surface patterns and has even designed the curtains for his baby son’s room! Check it out on his instagram here.
Art Hostel lights – Alison M Smith
They say the devil is in the details, and here at the hostel we have to agree! We’ve put care and attention into every little last part of the hostel, including the light fittings in the dorm rooms that were made by the amazing Alison M Smith. Alison is a local artist who predominantly uses recycled materials to create delicate, ethereal pieces.
Our ceiling lights are part of Alison’s series of Frost Blossoms, which is the perfect name for the spiky fluffy bombs of white. For our first three months of being open, we had an outward display of Alison’s work in our front windows too.
Her Frost Blossoms have travelled far and wide, at various festivals, in bars and restaurants and are currently decorating the space at 34 Boar Lane for our good friend, Helen Russell Brown’s sold out Real Junk Food Emporium fine dining experience. You can find out more about East Street Arts’ involvement in 34 Boar Lane here too.
Matthew Collins – Reception Light Installation
Behind our reception desk is a square of playful colour, with digital patterns dancing and evolving, rolling through a series of different ‘hacks’. It is sound responsive and digitally translates the noises in the room into flickering and rolling pops of colour. It is mesmerising.
So much so, that it quickly became our policy to turn light installation or ‘hackspace’ off after 11pm to stop passers by staring in, hypnotised by the colours.
Our beautiful ‘hackspace’ was built by maker and mender, Matthew Collins who is a director at Leeds Hackspace, a not-for-profit collective of makers and hackers who are concerned with all types of technology, both old and new.
A Toilet Less Grey – George Addy
One of our more recent additions, was a mural in the ground floor toilet. It has gone through stages of hosting guests’ artwork, posters for local events or just being plain and white, which just wouldn’t do! So we had an open call for ideas to make the toilet less white!*
George’s submission, entitled ‘Majorelle Sunset’, was colourful, travel-inspired and just the right style to bridge the gap between the beautiful floral mural by Wanderlust in reception and the aforementioned Stranger in Pink room. It was just the kind of wonder we wanted!
The mural takes inspiration from a trip to Marrakesh, with an amazing colour pallet of purples, aqua, yellow and blush tones. It depicts fountains and vistas that you want to walk right into!
Take a look at these and the the other hostel artwork here or better yet, book a stay with us. If you’ve already visited, let us know which hostel art was your favourite in the comments below!