Leeds Art Gallery Reviews Summary

Art Collection & Exhibitions

Pros:

• "An interesting collection which I enjoyed primarily on account of the curation choices."
• "Lovely old building housing a fairly small, but very high quality, collection of art."
• "The Leeds Art Gallery is a beautiful place to be and it’s free!"
• "There is always some interesting art here located in the numerous spaces within the building."
• "Extensive collection of modern art."
• "The permanent collection is beautiful and quality is high."
• "The art itself mostly from lesser-known artists, but of very high quality and very interesting."

Cons:

• "Not the most well-laid out art gallery but some impressive artwork on display."
• "Went to see the Leonardo Da Vinci exhibition and was quite disappointed."
• "The second time I have visited this gallery in as many years. As before some of the most important sculpture exhibits were not on view."
• "Sadly, though, the last couple of times I've been half the gallery has been closed off."
• "Very disappointed. There were only a small number of paintings on display."
• "Such a disappointment. We were informed that many paintings were on loan to Liverpool."
• "After walking around this gallery, I've found out that modern art is actually pretty awful."

Facilities & Accessibility

Pros:

• "The on-site cafe and shop are also nice places to spend some time, and money."
• "The Tiled Cafe has amazing architectural details as well."
• "Excellent location on the headrow. Easily accessible by bus and a short 10-15 minute walk from the train station."
• "AMAZING museum with all kinds of amenities like a washroom, locker room for 1 pound, and a nice canteen."
• "Various rooms of paintings sculptures photos and other media. Toilets cafe library and an area for children to try their hands at producing a masterpiece."
• "The coffee shop setting was really nice, the coffee was great."
• "The Cafe is an amazing place with its marble columns, beautiful high ceiling, tiled walls."

Cons:

• "You have to be prepared to queue, but that only proves how popular it is."
• "Not doable without assistance. A map of the accessible routes through the building would have been very helpful."
• "Staff on reception not very enthusiastic."
• "Very disappointed to discover that the main gallery closes at 3pm on a Sunday."
• "Pity there's not many parking places."
• "The gallery wasn't as large as I expected; mostly due to a lot of the sections being closed off."
• "Accessible, if you bring someone with you to open extremely heavy doors."

Staff & Service

Pros:

• "The staff is really nice and very helpful."
• "Staff were helpful, polite and friendly."
• "Staff really helpful and knowledgeable without being intrusive."
• "The guides were very nice and welcoming."
• "Staff are great, entry is free."

Cons:

• "Can someone in management remind those people behind the desk at the entrance they are no curators."
• "Really rude gallery assistant!"
• "This is not a reflection on all the staff, just the lady who approached me when I was already exhausted taking 2 young exuberant children out for the day and needing to use a public toilet facility."
• "The atmosphere & staff are generally quite miserable."
• "The cafeteria and shop had adequate staffing though."

Cafe & Amenities

Pros:

• "The food was delicious, my salad was the best I have tasted - different flavours and textures."
• "The gallery cafe is also gorgeous with reasonably priced food and drinks."
• "Lovely historic tiled hall cafe, unfortunately no hot food on Sunday."
• "The tiled hall cafe is Fabulous, with great service."
• "Cafe serves excellent food and has some great tiling."
• "We also had a cup of tea afterwards in the wonderful cafe with its outstanding tiling."

Cons:

• "Drinks and scones are quite pricey."
• "Cafe is priced high, although it's setting and decor is wonderful."
• "Must of come at a bad time as the cafe was shut in the middle of the day and the shop wasn't quite what I was wanting."
• "Disappointing that the breakfast items consist of 'Toast and Jam', no croissants or pastries to accompany a pre-lunch coffee."
• "Such a beautiful place to visit in Leeds. Love looking at the art & the cafe is a bonus too."