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The Sheffield culture guide written by in-the-know locals

Meet the Locals

Our interviews with some of the creative folk who happily call Sheffield home. Get to know local artists, musicians, filmmakers, designers, poets, and more.

Our Guides

Meet the Locals: Yorkshire Artspace

Get to know some of the community of artists and makers who are based at Yorkshire Artspace's two sites, and who are continuing Sheffield’s proud tradition of making.

Warda Yassin

A British-Somali poet born and raised in Sheffield. Winner of the 2018 New Poets Prize, Warda is dedicated to her craft and encouraging young people to reap the benefits of writing.

Chim'Di

A Nigerian artist based in Sheffield, who creates abstract Afro-centric and Afro-futuristic paintings. Here she talks about the importance of authenticity, family and community to her creativity.

Andro and Eve

Bringing people together over the joys of queer culture since 2016, through drag king cabarets, film, music, poetry, and cake.

Kedisha Coakley

Inspired by African and Caribbean cultures, artist Kedisha Coakley invites people on a mesmerising journey of childhood memories, cultural symbols and spiritual iconography.

Theresa Bruno

Mixing ready-made objects with new media, artist Theresa Bruno plays with power structures and consumer trends.

Zoyander Street

An artist repurposing old technology and “toxic garbage” to create playful and playable forms of documentary – using art and gaming to process ideas around emotion, trans experiences and the self.

ArtWorks

A collective of artists with learning disabilities.

Akeem Balogun

Writer Akeem Balogun talks to Annalisa Toccara about his short story collection about human survival, and why he co-founded independent publishing company Okapi Books.

Tommi Bryson

A theatremaker whose work centres on community, representation and comedy. Tommi co-hosts monthly variety performance night Sounds Queer, and is currently developing a one-woman musical about a trans Disney princess.

Yuen Fong Ling

An artist whose work uncovers hidden histories and connect past figures with autobiography – currently exploring the Sheffield legacy of writer, poet, activist and socialist Edward Carpenter (1844-1929).

Mojisola Kareem-Elufowoju

An artistic director and founder of Utopia Theatre. Working with those underrepresented in the arts and inspiring, engaging and empowering people through African theatre.

Stan Skinny

A treasure of the Sheffield arts scene, turning venues all over Sheffield into alternative cabaret nights with eccentricity, DIY props and sincerity.

Kisha Bradley

At social enterprise Bright Box Makerspace, Kisha creates playful spaces to explore tech, engineering and arts. Getting kids curious and confident to try new things.

Tyler Mellins

An artist inspired by all things paranormal, magical and occult, whose work is "equal parts serious and camp."

Otis Mensah

Sheffield's first poet laureate. A radical performer with a clear vision of poetry and rap as a means of communicating emotion.

Change the Word Collective

A collective of new poets from around the world – DRC, Ethiopia, Guyana, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Pakistan, Sudan, UK – who have now made Sheffield their homes. Making connections to one another and to the city, through poetry.

Paul Evans

A background in philosophy and archeology and a love of climbing inform Paul's art practice.

Eelyn Lee

An artist and filmmaker, exploring race, identity and ‘othering’, and challenging commonly accepted narratives of past, present and future.

Chris Bush

The playwright behind the Park Hill-set musical Standing at the Sky’s Edge talks about tackling big ideas through theatre, and finding honest human stories that an audience can connect with.

Siân Williams

An artist based at Bloc, whose practice references the feminine and sees seeming irreverence jostle with political poignance.

Andy Cropper

Bus stops, tram tracks, alleyways. Andy Cropper takes these ordinary, unremarkable, utilitarian places – the sorts of places we pass every day – and turns them into quietly, almost eerily beautiful oil paintings.

Désirée Reynolds

The writer – and DJ, journalist and mentor – talks to Annalisa Toccara about being inspired by ordinariness, making space for change, and curating the Black Women Write Now strand at Off the Shelf Festival 2020.

Hassun El Zafar

A theatre director driven by a desire to create social change.

Toni Buckby

Working with textiles, electronics and computer art, Toni is an artist who brings the traditional and the progressive into dialogue to create something entirely new.

Lucy Cheesman

A sound artist, musician, producer and organiser whose work often blurs the boundary between the visual, the audible and the digital.

Sheffield breweries

Sheffield is as much a city of ale as it is a city of steel. Get to know its finest small, independent breweries.

Yusuf Yellow

A lyricist reflecting on authenticity, masculinity, existential angst and the power of creativity, especially as expressed through rap.

David Fennell-Roberts

A painter and printmaker capturing the essence of the area around Long Island, an overlooked part of Sheffield at the core of this city's rich history.

Clee Claire Lee

A sculptor working with wire, welding and weaving it into ethereal forms and bringing in light and sound to create immersive installations.

Kweku Sackey – K.O.G

A multi-instrumentalist and Afro-fusion pioneer, making positive connections and "linking Yorkshire to the rest of the world" as frontman for the eight-piece K.O.G and the Zongo Brigade.

Chloë Brown

An artist-filmmaker investigating the histories of post-industrial cities and amplifying voices that have traditionally been silenced.

Third Angel

Creators of forward-thinking, affecting and unforgettable theatre, 1995–2023.

Society of Explorers

A curious, enthusiastic and creative collective of 14-to-19-year-olds, chatting, making and curating art from their Site Gallery base.

Leafcutter John

An artist and instrument builder from the experimental fringes of electronic music. See him live at this year's AlgoMech festival.

Ashley Holmes

An artist with a multitude of interests – music, film, visual arts, archiving – investigating social and political histories, and exploring the ways that stories of Black people in Britain are told.

And Other Stories

An indie publishing house, boldly trying to transform the world of books.

Forced Entertainment

Sheffield’s Forced Entertainment were once the "enfants terribles" of the avant-garde theatre scene. Now, after 30 years, they’re the elder statesman of contemporary performance.

Kid Acne

If you've spent a decent amount of time in Sheffield, chances are you'll have come across, and come to love, the work of graffiti artist-musician-printmaker Kid Acne in one form or another.

Geo Law

A master doodler, Geo creates work with "plenty of colour, character and narrative to sink your eyes into".

Seiko Kinoshita

Working at her huge dobby loom, Seiko creates yarn sculptures inspired by nature that are full of calm and beauty.

Raluca de Soleil

A firm fixture on Sheffield's poetry scene, weaving the ills of society and its oppression within each word and unravelling the personal-political.

Eclipse

Headed by creative director Dawn Walton, Eclipse is a company dedicated to bringing a more diverse audience into theatres and adding stories to the British canon.

Richard Hawley

No musician has as deep a connection to Sheffield as Richard Hawley. Here he talks about the "grim up north" myth and how Sheffield inspires his music.

Our Mel

A grassroots collective putting black artists, storytellers, filmmakers and talent front and centre through pop-up events and the annual Melanin Fest.

Mark Herbert

The joint CEO of Warp Films on the company's origins, This is England, and Sheffield's independent spirit.

Alex McLean

A pioneer of the algorave scene, creating music through live coding.

UDAGAN

UDAGAN combine the contemporary technology of live coding with indigenous folklore and shamanic culture from the Arctic North, resulting in otherworldly soundscapes. We spoke to Saydyy-Kuo and Oscar ahead of the duo's performance at Sensoria.

Victoria Claire Dawes

A ceramicist creating kitchenware inspired by, and made for, the people, history and character of Sheffield.

CreativeMornings Sheffield

A monthly gathering over coffee, breakfast and creative ideas, taking place in cities around the world. Find out more about what makes CreativeMornings worth getting out of bed for, from the Sheffield chapter's Leanne Mallinshaw.

One World Choir

A group of refugees and asylum seekers, as well as other local people, who come together over songs of love, solidarity and belonging.

Lucy Vann

Lucy Vann is an artist preoccupied with small-scale weirdness and the surreally mundane. From her studio she works with video, sculpture, performance and installation.

Penny Withers

A ceramicist based at Yorkshire Artspace, creating "vessels with heart".

John Hoyland

Introducing John Hoyland (1934-2011), the Sheffield-born abstract painter who took on the international art world.

TADO

Welcome to the wonderful world of TADO!

Field Cycles

Builders of dream bicycle frames, bespoke to each rider.

Rob Lee

A graphic artist whose large-scale geometric murals invite interaction and inject a shot of vibrancy into the city.

Sarah Waterhouse

Peek inside fabric designer and screen printer Sarah's Yorkshire Artspace studio, shared with pugs Lola and Ethel.

My Indie Wardrobe

My Indie Wardrobe is a website dedicated to promoting sustainable fashion. We speak to its Sheffield-based founder Hannah Clugston to find out more about the project and how to be kinder to our environment when choosing what to wear.

Archive Sheffield

A documentary photography collective that has taken on the role of storyteller for the people of Sheffield.

Peter Martin

Peter Martin is an artist and GLOAM studio holder. As well as his own video-based art practice, he is involved in a number of projects in Sheffield – each connected by the desire to do good through creativity.

Delicious Clam

A record label and self-confessed labour of love, fuelling the fire of Sheffield's alternative music scene.

Chris Boland

Jeweller Chris constructs his bold and unusual rings from the most beautiful stones.

Jane Huws

Jane weaves charming bags by hand, capturing the spectrum of colour found in nature.

Handmade Cinema

A community cinema that transforms spaces into magical cinematic wonderlands.

Neil Woodall

A loveable and inky t-shirted aquatint pro, working in the most incredible studio we've ever stepped foot in.

Jennie Gill

Precious stones and metals glimmering in all directions – Jennie's jewellery workshop is a delight!

Sarah Villeneau

An artist working with clay to capture organic textures and movements in abstract sculptures and vessels.

Thoughts Make Things

Playful creations to bring a smile to the dullest of days.

Anthony Bennett

The Showman Sculptor with a huge collection of cast figures lining his studio walls.

Henk Littlewood

At his Narnia-like studio, Henk turns tree trunks into magical sculptures and pieces of furniture.

Natalie Burton

An illustrator with a clear love for nature, whose pen-and-pencil world is full of trees, houses and landscapes all captured with charm and warmth.

Tom J Newell

One of the most distinctive illustrators in town, with a back catalogue of creepy creatures and writhing skulls.

Alison J Carr

A creator of photography, film and performance art exploring glamour and gilded architecture, and asking audiences to reflect on entertainment and the ways in which women display themselves.

Jo Peel

Capturing stories of cities in paint.

Donna Brewins

Donna finds inspiration in "big winter skies" for her giant canvases of dark landscapes.

Gemma Thorpe

Gemma focusses her lens on issues including migration, homelessness, identity and belonging – in each case telling you just enough of the story to make you keen as mustard to find out more.

SIA's Visual Communication students

We tasked a group of students to create imaginative maps of Sheffield. The results were funny, charming and surprising – read on for some highlights.

Madeline Shann

Madeline Shann is a theatre maker, choreographer and writer whose work meets anxiety and absurdity with a mixture of laughter and fury. We got to know Madeline ahead of her 2019 solo show, Here's Looking at UKIP.

We Live Here

Jonathan Wilkinson's architectural illustrations are a celebration of our unconventionally beautiful city.

Girl Gang Sheffield

Support your local Girl Gang.

Sheffield coffee roasters

Get to know Sheffield's growing community of coffee roasters.

Finbarr Lucas

Makers of magnificent works of sculptural furniture.

Helen Mort

A poet with one foot in Sheffield and another in Derbyshire, who finds inspiration at the top of hills, in ghost stories, pubs, friendship, the aftertaste of whisky, the miners' strike, and in lost love.

Dami 'The Gannette' Okhiria

A slam poetry champion, medic and comedy connoisseur – observing different social phenomena, expressing them in writing, bringing them to life on stage or in front of the camera, and inviting reflection.

CADS

DIY arts charity and Sheffield's go-to guys for artists' studios and unique event spaces.

Jeremy Abrahams

With his Arrivals project, Jeremy took photos of one person who arrived in Sheffield from overseas for every year since 1945.

Tim Etchells

The writer, artist and artistic director has some amazing ideas on how to improve the city.

Frazer Hudson

The witty illustrator lets us in on his way of working, his inspirations, and his thoughts on the 'quite zen' city of Sheffield.

Peter Griffiths

For his recent screen printing project, The Plant Room, Peter spent the summer gathering inspiration in community gardens.

Roanna Wells

In her monochrome embroideries, Roanna substitutes people with stitches to create stunning, often dramatic, new perspectives on human gatherings. Crowds never looked so pleasing.

Eddy Dreadnought

An artist working across performance, writing, drawing, video, and photography, aiming to ask questions about the world in a sensory, open and poetic way.

David Mellor

The so-called Cutlery King, who also designed traffic lights, park benches and 1960s bus shelters.

James Green

A linocut printmaker with a love of donkeys, dinosaurs and views of Sheffield.

The Village Screen

A pop-up cinema bringing modern classic films to incredible locations.

Ignite Imaginations

A charity dedicated to connecting, inspiring and enlivening Sheffield communities through creativity.

Sheffield food producers

Glorious food, made in Sheffield.

Brett Chapman

A Sheffield-based filmmaker dedicated to seeing our city represented in film in new and interesting ways.

Opus Independents

"A force for good in Sheffield." Opus has been giving platform to ideas for change in since 2008 – whether that's through Now Then magazine, Wordlife, or Festival of Debate.

Nick Deakin

Nick's playful and irreverent illustrations cheer us right up.

Boneloaf

An indie games studio founded by brothers Jon, Michael and James Brown, responsible for creating the hilariously silly Gang Beasts.

Andrew Hunt

An artist painting people caught in moments of tenderness and silence.

Ruby Robinson

A South Yorks poet, whose candid, vulnerable and vigilant work will leave you open-mouthed.

Rich Milner

One of the longest running DIY comedy producers in Sheffield, responsible for bringing some of the best comedians in the country to the intimate function room of the Red Deer at the Square Hole Comedy night.

Barbara Wasiak

Curator Jose Snook on the life and work of the late Barbara Wasiak, a photographer known for capturing the Sheffield music scene in the 1980s and 90s.