Privacy Policy

Last updated: 24 August 2026

1. Who we are

UK Art Spotlight (“we”, “us”, “our”) is an independent art studio in Leeds offering beginner-friendly art classes, courses and exhibitions. We run the website ukartspotlight.org.

We are the data controller for the personal information described in this policy. That means we decide why and how your information is used, and we are responsible for looking after it.

UK Art Spotlight is operated by Daniel Newton, a sole trader based at Unit 5 Aire Street, Leeds LS1 4HT, United Kingdom.

How to contact us

Email: hello@ukartspotlight.org
Post: UK Art Spotlight, Unit 5 Aire Street, Leeds LS1 4HT

We are a small organisation and are not required to appoint a Data Protection Officer. Any question about how we handle your information should go to the email address above, and it will reach the person responsible.

2. What information we collect, and why

We only collect information we actually need. Here is what we collect, why we collect it, and the lawful basis we rely on under the UK GDPR.

When you sign up to our newsletter. We collect your name (optional), email address, sign-up date, and records of which emails you open and click. We use this to send you news about exhibitions, classes and open calls. Our lawful basis is your consent (UK GDPR Article 6(1)(a)), which you can withdraw at any time.
When you book a class, course or event. We collect your name, email, phone number, booking and attendance details, and confirmation of payment. We use this to take and manage your booking, contact you about the session, and keep our accounts. Our lawful basis is performance of a contract (Article 6(1)(b)), and legal obligation (Article 6(1)(c)) for tax and accounting records.
When you create a member account on our site. We collect a username, email address, password (stored encrypted by our website provider) and any profile details you add. We use this to give you access to member areas and manage your account. Our lawful basis is performance of a contract (Article 6(1)(b)).
When you submit work to an open call or the Sketchbook Show. We collect your name, contact details, artist statement or biography, images of your work, and any social media handles or links you give us. We use this to assess submissions, curate exhibitions and credit exhibiting artists. Our lawful basis is your consent (Article 6(1)(a)) and, once you are selected, performance of a contract (Article 6(1)(b)).
When you pay us. We collect a billing name, the amount, the date and a transaction reference. We do not see or store your full card number. We use this to take payment and keep required financial records. Our lawful basis is performance of a contract (Article 6(1)(b)) and legal obligation (Article 6(1)(c)).
When you email us or message us on social media. We collect your name, contact details and the content of your message, so we can reply to you and keep a record of the conversation. Our lawful basis is our legitimate interests (Article 6(1)(f)) in responding to enquiries.
When you visit our website. We collect your IP address, browser and device type, the pages you view and the site you came from — see section 7 on cookies. We use this to keep the site secure and working, and to understand which pages are useful. Our lawful basis is our legitimate interests (Article 6(1)(f)).
When you are photographed at an event. We collect photographs or video in which you may appear, to document exhibitions and promote future events. Our lawful basis is your consent (Article 6(1)(a)) — see section 9.

Where we rely on legitimate interests, we have considered whether our interest is outweighed by your rights, and concluded it is not. You can ask us to explain that assessment, or object to the processing — see section 8.

Do you have to give us this information?

Mostly, no — it is your choice. But it helps to know what happens if you don’t:

Bookings. We need your name and contact details to take a booking; without them we cannot hold you a place or tell you if a session is cancelled. Some booking and payment details we are required by law to keep for our accounts.
Member accounts. An email address and password are needed to create an account. Everything else on your profile is optional.
Newsletter and open call submissions. Entirely your choice. If you don’t sign up or submit, nothing else changes about how we treat you.

3. Where your information comes from

Almost all of the information we hold comes directly from you — from a form on our website, a booking, an email, or a conversation at the studio. We may also receive limited information from:

our website and booking platform, which records technical and transaction details automatically;
our payment provider, which confirms that a payment succeeded;
social media platforms, if you contact us or interact with us there, in line with their own privacy settings.

4. Who we share your information with

We do not sell your personal information, and we do not share it for anyone else’s marketing. We do use a small number of trusted service providers who process information on our behalf, under contracts that require them to keep it secure and use it only on our instructions:

Wix.com Ltd hosts our website, member accounts, forms, bookings and email newsletters, and processes payments through Wix Payments. Data may be processed in the EEA, UK, USA and Israel.
Stripe processes card payments securely. Your card details go directly to Stripe — we never see or store them. Data may be processed in the EEA, UK and USA.
Google (Google Workspace) hosts our email inbox. Data may be processed in the EEA, UK and USA.

We may also disclose information where we are legally required to — for example to HM Revenue & Customs, or to the police or another authority where the law obliges or permits us to do so.

5. Sending information outside the UK

Some of our providers store or process information outside the United Kingdom. Where that happens, we make sure the transfer is protected by one of the safeguards UK law recognises — usually an adequacy decision made by the UK government, or the International Data Transfer Agreement (or the UK Addendum to the EU Standard Contractual Clauses).

You can ask us for details of the safeguards that apply to any particular transfer by emailing hello@ukartspotlight.org.

6. How long we keep it

As a small studio we keep records of the people, classes and exhibitions we have worked with as an ongoing archive. In practice that means we hold on to most information until you ask us to remove it — and you can ask at any time, for any reason, by emailing us. Some records we are required by law to keep for a set period.

Newsletter subscriber details — until you unsubscribe or ask us to delete your details.
Member accounts — until you close your account or ask us to delete it.
Booking and attendance records — retained as part of our studio records. Where a booking forms part of our accounts, the current financial year plus 6 years, as HMRC requires.
Payment and accounting records — 6 years from the end of the financial year they relate to. This is a legal requirement we cannot waive.
Open call and Sketchbook Show submissions — retained as part of our record of past open calls, unless you ask us to remove them.
Exhibited work, artist statements and exhibition records — retained as part of our public archive of past exhibitions, unless you ask us to remove them.
Event photographs — retained in our archive, unless you ask us to remove them.
General correspondence — retained unless you ask us to delete it.

We review what we hold from time to time and remove anything we no longer have a reason to keep. If you would like to know what we hold about you, or want it removed, email hello@ukartspotlight.org and we will deal with it.

7. Cookies and similar technologies

Our website uses cookies — small files stored on your device. We use them in three ways:

Strictly necessary cookies. These make the site work: keeping you logged in, remembering the contents of a booking, and protecting against fraud. The site cannot function without them, and they do not require your consent.
Preference cookies. These remember choices you make, such as your language or display settings.
Statistical cookies. These tell us how many people visit each page and how they found us, so we can improve the site. We use them only to produce aggregate statistics — never to build a profile of you or to target advertising.

You can review and change your cookie choices at any time using the cookie settings button on our website, which opens a panel where you can turn each category on or off. You can also block or delete cookies through your browser settings, though some parts of the site may then stop working properly.

8. Your rights

Under UK data protection law you have the following rights. They are free to exercise, and we will normally respond within one month.

Access — ask for a copy of the personal information we hold about you.
Rectification — ask us to correct information that is wrong or incomplete.
Erasure — ask us to delete information where we no longer have a good reason to keep it.
Restriction — ask us to pause our use of your information while a concern is resolved.
Objection — object to processing we base on legitimate interests. You can object to direct marketing at any time, and we will always stop.
Portability — ask us to send information you gave us to you, or to another organisation, in a machine-readable format.
Withdraw consent — where we rely on your consent, you can withdraw it at any time. This does not affect anything we did before you withdrew it.

To exercise any of these, email hello@ukartspotlight.org. We may ask you to confirm your identity before we act, so that we don’t disclose your information to someone else.

Automated decisions and profiling

We do not make any decision about you by automated means alone, and we do not profile you. Decisions about class places, open call selections and exhibition invitations are made by people.

9. Marketing emails and photography

Newsletters

We only send marketing emails to people who have asked for them. Every email we send includes an unsubscribe link that works immediately, and you can also email us to be removed. Unsubscribing from the newsletter does not stop us sending you practical messages about a class you have booked.

Photography at our events

We sometimes photograph exhibitions, classes and private views. We will tell you when photography is happening and you can ask not to be included, or ask us later to remove a photograph of you — just speak to a member of staff or email us.

If you are under 18, or you are the parent or guardian of someone under 18, please tell us before a session if you would prefer no photographs to be taken. We ask for a parent or guardian’s consent before photographing anyone under 18.

10. Children and young people

Our website and newsletter are aimed at adults. We ask that anyone under 16 does not create an account or sign up to the newsletter without a parent or guardian’s involvement. Where a young person attends a class, we take their details from a parent or guardian and keep only what we need for their safety and for running the session.

11. Keeping your information safe

We take reasonable steps to protect your information: our website runs over an encrypted connection, access to accounts and inboxes is protected by strong passwords and two-factor authentication, and only people who need to see your information can. No system is completely secure, but if a breach happens that is likely to put your rights at risk, we will tell you and the Information Commissioner’s Office without undue delay.

12. Complaints

If you are unhappy with how we have handled your personal information, please tell us first at hello@ukartspotlight.org. We will acknowledge your complaint within 30 days, keep you updated on progress, and tell you the outcome.

You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office, the UK’s data protection regulator, at any time:

Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF
Helpline: 0303 123 1113
Online: ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint

13. Changes to this policy

We review this policy at least once a year and whenever we change how we work. The date at the top shows when it was last updated. If we make a significant change, we will say so on the website and, where appropriate, email people on our list.