Art collection

The University of Leicester art collection enhances the University campus and our environment for the benefit of all our students, staff and public communities. Through our art collection, we aim to reflect the mission, ethos and community of the University, reflecting both its history and the contemporary era. We also want to represent the place and identity of Leicester through the works held in the collection.

The University of Leicester art collection features over 200 works which have been acquired since the University was founded. The collection includes an eclectic range of modern and contemporary artworks including paintings, drawings, photographs and indoor and outdoor sculptures. Artists represented within the collection include many famous names such as Picasso, Henry Moore, Joan Miro, Eduardo Paolozzi, Elisabeth Frink, Helaine Blumenfeld, Sandra Blow, Daphne Todd, Kathryn Kynoch, Terry Frost and Patrick Heron. There are several works by Leicester artists including Loz Atkinson, Vishal Joshi and Sarah Kirby. There are several portraits of chancellors by prolific portraitist Bryan Organ.

The collection is displayed in almost every building across the University estate. There are notable outdoor works on Centenary Square, on Fielding Johnson Building Lawn and at the Botanic Garden. There are also significant sculptures in the David Wilson Library and the Henry Wellcome Building. 

Governance of the collection is overseen by the University of Leicester Art Collection Committee, with members drawn from across the institution. The collection is managed by Attenborough Arts Centre, which organises regular public and learning programmes to increase awareness of and access to the collection. Together we are working to acquire a range of new works by contemporary artists; diversify the collection to increase the representation of artists who historically have been underrepresented in the collection – in particular disabled, ethnically diverse, LGBTQ and women artists; and to increase the number of opportunities for the public and students to engage with the collection.