Our Beginning

Foxglove is Jane Earnshaw and Abby DixMason. We have been creating, commissioning and producing arts projects for over 20 years. Between us we have worked together with communities, artists and scientists to produce work in greenspaces, museums, community centres, heritage spaces, libraries, schools, train stations and online. We write copy, interpretation, interviews and case studies for a wide range of projects.

PROJECT SPOTLIGHT
Smeaton300: The Art of Engineering
Smeaton300 was a major two year programme that began in 2023 and completing in December 2024. Inspired by the 300th anniversary of the UK’s first Civil Engineer, Leeds born John Smeaton, the programme was guided by Smeaton’s ethos of collaboration, learning and creating works ‘for the public good’. Smeaton300 became a dynamic collaboration between artists, scientists, engineers, designers and the people of Leeds. It was 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.

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 Programme
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.

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 whilst reflecting on the past. Looking to the future, an innovative learning programme across schools, libraries and museums inspired tomorrow’s creative thinkers and engineers.

Smeaton300 x University of Leeds
The Smeaton300 programme continued throughout 2024 with our University Of Leeds partnership delivered in partnership the Cultural Institute and the School of Engineering. The interdisciplinary programme was developed with researchers, artists and students. Highlights included 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.