Did you know that art can help keep your heart healthy? Visiting Kirkstall Art Trail in the summer is a perfect way to get active, have fun, and find inspiration.

Since it’s National Heart Month in February, we’d like to share some creative ideas to help you get active before summer arrives:

• Visit other art trails. There are plenty around the country. Although they are taking a break this year (2025), Horsforth Walk of Art is our nearest neighbour. The long-running Saltaire Arts Trail is on every year, over the Spring Bank Holiday in May.
• Go on an art walk. There are hundreds of guided and self-guided ones around the country. The self-guided Leeds Street Art Gallery tour is worth adding steps to your daily count.
• Go for an adventure with your camera. You could explore the city, your neighbourhood, or the countryside. Come to Kirkstall, and explore the historic Abbey, or the wildlife along the River Aire valley. Visit Kirkstall Valley Nature Reserve, or the Kirkstall Abbey parkland.
• Sketch or paint ‘plein air’. Go outside, go for a walk, and find an inspiring spot to sketch or paint (Tate Gallery’sdefinition of the term ‘plein air’).
• Take a stroll through the wonderful Yorkshire Sculpture Park.

Heart Month is a British Heart Foundation campaign. It raises awareness of heart health and the importance of CPR. It also raises funds for research into heart and circulatory diseases. You can learn CPR in 15 minutes for free with RevivR.