Culture Strategy

Please see here for a video recording of a presentation of the draft culture strategy and a Q&A session with the wider sector.

We’ve now concluded the first stage of our conversation around the Cultural Strategy, through a range of vision workshops and working groups that brought together more than 200 creatives and community workers from across the city. The energy, passion, and desire for change in the rooms was strong, and we would like to thank everyone who got involved and offered their views.

The second stage of this conversation will involve additional workshops and discussions with smaller groups and individuals and will include a second digital survey. This survey was originally planned to run in April, but we have taken the decision to delay it until May. There are two main reasons for this. Firstly, the additional time will allow us to maximise its reach and make sure we involve as many people as possible. Secondly, this will allow us to avoid overlapping with the pre-election period before local elections in early May, meaning the survey can be fully publicised and shared by Sheffield City Council as well as our project team and partners.

We look forward to hearing your views when the survey launches on Monday 6^th of May.

We are extremely lucky to have been able to bring together an incredibly talented Steering Group and Project Team to deliver this work. Alongside Fourth Street and Opus Independents, our project team includes experienced and skilled creative practitioners based in Sheffield:

• Kate Brindley, appointed by SCC to lead the delivery of the Cultural Strategy as part of her role as a Cultural Development Consultant. Until July last year Kate worked for over 2 years with SYMCA as Project Director for Arts, Culture and Heritage where she led the work to position culture at the heart of the region’s investment priorities
• Ruth Nutter is a creative producer and community engagement practitioner, with expertise in creative health and community engagement.
• Ola Fagbohun is a health and wellness coach/facilitator and behavioural insight researcher, who runs an organisation called Zest OF: You.
• Rachael Walton is a director, writer, actor, and creative educator who founded and led Third Angel, an internationally renowned performance company, for 28 years.

The commission has been funded by Sheffield City Council, the University of Sheffield, and Arts Council England, and is being supported by the Culture Collective and Culture Consortium.

As part of our initial stage of work, we have established a Task and Finish Group composed of representatives of the cultural sector in Sheffield. This group includes a range of individuals from small and large cultural, community, and educational organisations, as well as creative freelancers and practitioners. This group will support the project team, hold them to account, and help to distil findings and priorities from our research and engagement.

The Task and Finish Group is composed of the following people:

• Roger Bateman, Sheffield Hallam University

• Tom Bird, Sheffield Theatres

• Linda Bloomfield, RivelinCo

• Laura Clarke, Site Gallery, Sheffield Culture Consortium

• Karen Durham, Arts Council England

• Surriya Falconer, Sheffield Culture Collective

• Sonia Gayle, African Heritage Culture Forum, Sheffield Race Equality Commission

• James Green, artist and printmaker

• Amina Haruna, DJ Myna, Mondo Radio, The Beatriarchy, Calabash!

• Clare Mappin, Burton Street Foundation

• John O’Shea, The National Videogame Museum & BGI Charity

• Liam O’Shea, Hope Works and No Bounds Festival

• Cat Powell, The National Videogame Museum & BGI Charity

• Desiree Reynolds, curator, writer in residence at Sheffield Archives

• Terezia Rostas, Care for Young People’s Future CIC

• Debbie Squire, Sheffield Hallam University

• Kim Streets, Sheffield Museums

• Professor Vanessa Toulmin, University of Sheffield

• Sara Unwin, University of Sheffield

We are so grateful to all of them for their time, energy, and brilliant ideas!