Sometimes a piece of art does more than brighten a wall. It tells people that their history matters, that their community matters and, perhaps most importantly, that they matter too.
A striking mural of Leeds suffragette Leonora Cohen has now found a new home at New Bewerley Community School, where her courage, determination and refusal to accept inequality will inspire a new generation of South Leeds children.
Painted by Beeston artist Karl Canning, the artwork was commissioned by the Dewsbury Road Town Team and took over six months to create. Previously mounted on a wall at the junction of Dewsbury Road and Rowland Road, it was relocated on Saturday 26 September 2026 to the fencing surrounding the school’s Multi-Use Games Area, with Tommings and Ian helping to carefully move and install the artwork in its new home.
The mural has travelled only around five minutes walk further down Dewsbury Road. It remains visible to the local community, but its new home gives it an even more powerful purpose.
When Karl began researching notable people connected with Hunslet and Beeston, Leonora Cohen immediately captured his attention.
“She just stood out so much. She was beautiful and her achievements were incredible. It was a no-brainer.”
Leonora was not born into wealth or privilege. She was a local woman who saw injustice and refused to remain silent. She challenged expectations, fought for women’s rights and demonstrated what can happen when an ordinary person finds the courage to demand extraordinary change.
Her story also inspired one of the most powerful reflections to emerge from our conversation:
“Ordinary people can do great things, and even from a small area like Hunslet and Beeston can come the most incredible people.”
That message now stands where hundreds of local children will see it every day.
The mural has found a particularly fitting home at New Bewerley Community School, where one of the Year 6 classes is named Cohen Class and pupils already learn about Leonora’s life and legacy. She will no longer be simply a name in a history lesson. Her image will form part of the children’s daily surroundings, inviting questions, starting conversations and reminding them that important stories can begin in places just like their own.
For Karl, there could hardly have been a better outcome.
The relocation has also been supported by a range of local partners. Councillor Paul Wray (Labour, Hunslet & Riverside Ward) has applied for funding to provide an A1 lectern display stand, helping visitors learn more about Leonora Cohen’s life and legacy alongside the mural.
“Having it go to the school is probably the best place it could have gone.”
Public art can give people more than an impressive image. It can preserve a story, strengthen a sense of belonging and allow communities to see themselves reflected in the places around them.
When asked what he hoped his work could make people feel, Karl answered with just three words:
“Represented. Not alone. Valued.”
Those words lie at the heart of this story.
Children need to see that their community has a history worth celebrating. They need to know that talent, courage and determination are not reserved for people from somewhere else. They need local stories that show them that where they begin does not have to limit where they go.
As Karl explained:
“When you are supported by your whole community, then you feel valued.”
The mural brings together a local artist, a pioneering Leeds woman and the children growing up in South Leeds today. Rather than disappearing from public view, it will continue to tell Leonora’s story in the heart of the community, while encouraging young people to recognise the possibility within their own lives.
The artwork has moved only a few minutes down the road, but its message reaches much further.
Extraordinary people really can come from ordinary streets. Leonora Cohen proved it, Karl Canning has captured it, and now the children of New Bewerley will grow up seeing that they can prove it too.
This post was written by Jacqui Driscoll
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