The winner of this year’s Turner Prize was announced at Bradford Grammar School on 9 December in a ceremony broadcast live on the BBC – and it was Nnena Kalu who took the honours, becoming the first learning-disabled artist to win the most prestigious prize in British art. The Guardian was among those to welcome Kalu’s triumph – and you can still see her work alongside her fellow nominees at Cartwright Hall Art Gallery until 22 February.

Nnena Kalu received the Turner Prize from Steven Frayne, formerly known as Dynamo – and the Bradford lad arrived at the exhibition fresh from a residency at Loading Bay. Steven Frayne: Back Home and Magical saw the superstar magician bring his dazzling stage show to the intimate confines of our very own pop-up venue – and just 200 people a night enjoyed the privilege of seeing this mind-boggling show at close quarters.

DRAW!, our nationwide drawing programme supported by David Hockney, welcomed its final guest artist: Phoebe Boswell, who invited us to create a drawing inspired by memories.

There’s still time to take up her invitation – and you can also explore the submissions from the previous months of DRAW! in our online gallery.

BD: Walls, our district-wide street art programme, continued this month with the arrival of several major new works – including Breathe Breathe Breathe, a new work for the Broadway created by street artist Ricky Also in collaboration with (yes!) Zayn Malik. See all the commissions at our website.

It was a busy month on the BBC for Bradford 2025 – look out on BBC iPlayer for…

• Cinderella – the CBeebies Panto, recorded in October at the Alhambra Theatre.
• Sing When You’re Winning, the heartwarming story of the BBC’s Bantam of the Opera choir – 50 Bradford City fans who came together to sing as part of Bradford 2025.
• BBC Sports Personality of the Year, which featured a live performance of Midland Road from the Bantam of the Opera choir.
• Christmas Morning Service, live on BBC One from Bradford Cathedral.
• Brighter Still, a live stream of our closing event.

The final event of the year at Loading Bay, our city centre pop-up venue, celebrated the best artists from around the district. Bradford Art Show, part of the new OUR TURN visual arts festival, exhibited work from local artists on the theme of ‘Our Place’ – a fitting celebration of who we are and where we live in the closing weeks of Bradford 2025.

Our Patch, Bradford 2025’s community creativity programme, drew to a close with another busy month of inclusive, welcoming and free creative activities – including…

• The St Wilfrid’s Star returned to St Wilfrid’s Church in Lidget Green after a 20-year absence thanks to local artists Nat Joseph and Tasha Brown.
• Word on the Street saw poet Kirsty Taylor host three free spoken-word workshops for young people aged 12–18 at Shipley’s cosy Gaffé café.
• Our Story, Our City captured the stories of Bradford residents in the last 25 years through photographs by Andy Walton-Vaines and Keyhan Modaressi Chahardehi.
• Us Girls invited young girls aged 8–13 to explore creativity and play in the company of new friends.
• The DRAW! Tour carried on rolling through the district with free artist-led drawing workshops at Keighley Market, the Kirkgate Centre in Shipley and Sedbergh Community Centre.
• The Repair Patch returned to Eccleshill Library, with local residents joining Duncan Burnett to breathe new life into old fabrics and textiles.
• The Growing Care Gathering took place for the final time in One City Park, providing a friendly creative space for people who receive care, who provide care or who may not be receiving the care they need.

• Turner Prize tours and workshops for schools continued at Cartwright Hall Art Gallery, with December’s programme reaching more than 500 pupils.
• PLAY: Common Ground made more creative connections between mainstream schools and learners in SEND settings, exploring artforms from music and movement to drama and sensory art. Co-delivered with The Linking Network, this pioneering project is set to continue into 2026.
• Exciting drama adventures from Alive & Kicking continued in December, with five interactive storytelling sessions taking place in four schools across the district.
• Music production and wellbeing workshops took place in 10 schools across the district, all inspired by our Penistone Hill sound walk Earth & Sky.

• Turner Lates, our series of after-hours events at the Turner Prize exhibition, continued with a festive evening of arts, crafts, food and drink at Cartwright Hall Art Gallery.
• We also hosted a host of special events at the gallery tied to the exhibition: Playful Spaces for children every weekend; an early-years session on 12 December; and a special workshop with Mind the Gap for learning-disabled and autistic artists exploring the work of Turner Prize winner Nnena Kalu.
• Eggs Collective hosted their final twisted cabaret night at Loading Bay.
• Wool City Rockers brought together New Model Army, Terrorvision and Paradise Lost for a thunderous triple-header at Bradford Live.