Meet and Greet at Soft Ground The Moor Sheffield
An informal evening of meet and greet facilitated by the Sheffield Culture Collective on saw representatives from Sheffield’s Arts Council England National Portfolio Organisations meet with members of Sheffield Property Association over a series of lightening presentations, drinks, and nibbles.
The gathering heard from the locally based arts and culture organisations about their work. They showcased future projects, local, national, and international impact, and the boost the donations to the Sheffield Pledge Pot has made to their work.
There were 8 arts organisations present, a representative from each one gave a quickfire 1 minute round up of their work to the gathering.
The evening event commenced with a welcome from Suriya Falconer, Chair of the Sheffield Culture Collective. Celebrating the success of the Sheffield Pledge Pot, Surriya introduced the host organisation of the evening Arts Catalyst.
Claudia Lastra Executive Director and Joint CEO of Arts Catalyst, welcomed us to their meanwhile space Soft Ground and introduced their current exhibition Skylarking before explaining the work they do around social action, ecological awareness, and communities in the city.
Utopia Theatre started the quick fire presentations, Mojisola Kareem, CEO and Artistic Director of Utopia Theatre spoke to the crowd about their creative hub, their Youth Academy its workshops and masterclasses held weekly as well as the work the organisation does to support new and developing artists.
The assembled audience then heard from each arts organisation. Cassie Rain from Parents and Carers in Performing Arts (PiPA) an infrastructure organisation located in the city, detailed the work they do focused on supporting the parents and carers in arts organisations.
Stefan Tobler from publishing house Other Stories spoke about how he had relocated his internationally focused contemporary literature organisation from the South of England to Sheffield in 2019. Highlighting their desire to open publishing from a southern based “club”.
The Yorkshire based Chol Theatre with a long-term focus on the city were next. Carly and Lauren highlighted the community focused approach the theatre company take to co creating work in the city with children and young people.
These first four speakers had all relocated or based their organisations to Sheffield bringing talent, focus and exceptional opportunities and business to the region.
The following three introductions were from organisations with a long and committed history and relationship with the city. Jo Towler from Music in The Round, Deborah Chadbourn from internationally renowned theatre company Forced Entertainment and Dan Ogden from Yorkshire Artspace. Each speaker highlighted their impact and long-term relationship.
Jo spoke about the amazing musicians and performances Music in the Round bring to the city and elsewhere in the country. Highlighting their 40th anniversary community opera project Jo emphasised this is where their Sheffield Pledge Pot money is being directly invested. An opera by and for the community in Sheffield, from the performers to the staging to the costume for the 40th Anniversary of Music in the Round performed on the stage of the Crucible.
Dan highlighted the unique ecosystem that exists through Yorkshire Artspace, by speaking about the recent collaboration between several artists that hold studios there. When British Nigerian Artist Yinka Shonibare CBE RA was looking to realise his idea for the 2024 Venice Biennale he naturally turned to his collaborator of 26 years, Anthony Bennett, based at Yorkshire Artspace in Sheffield, UK. Anthony brought together a number of artists based at Yorkshire Artspace to produce Shonibare’s extraordinary artwork Monument to the Restitution of the Mind and Soul which will be on show at the Nigeria Pavilion at this year’s Venice Biennale.
Deborah summarised the 40 years of Forced Entertainment in Sheffield and spotlighted some of the international productions that they have had in that time. Including work made in Sheffield performed at the Pompidou Centre, The Holland Festival, the Athens Festival, and London Southbank. Each of which brought money and reputation back to the organisations chosen home. Closer to home the organisation works with young people and communities across the city region, supporting them to develop their own work that tells stories in a different way.
Summing up Martin McKervey (Chair Sheffield Property Association, Vice Chair Sheffield Culture Collective) highlighted why the Sheffield Property Association are keen to support the work of Sheffield Culture Collective, and in turn the work of Sheffield’s culture organisations.
“We do it because culture is about how we all live as people of Sheffield. Culture improves our quality of life, our mental health, our wellbeing and our sense of pride and place, [it] also makes a very important contribution for businesses”.
