Meet the Locals
Our interviews with some of the creative folk who happily call Sheffield home. Get to know local artists, musicians, makers, designers, poets, brewers, and more.
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.
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.
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.
Andro and Eve
Bringing people together over the joys of queer culture since 2016, through film, drag, music, and more.
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.
Victoria Claire Dawes
A ceramicist creating kitchenware inspired by, and made for, the people, history and character of Sheffield.
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.
Lucy Vann
Lucy Vann is an artist preoccupied with small-scale weirdness and the surreally mundane. From her studio in S1 Artspace she works with video, sculpture, performance and installation.
John Hoyland
Introducing John Hoyland (1934-2011), the Sheffield-born abstract painter now championed by Damien Hirst.
Rob Lee
A graphic artist whose large-scale geometric murals that 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.
Archive Sheffield
A documentary photography collective that has taken on the role of storyteller for the people of Sheffield.
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.
Peter Martin
Peter Martin is an artist and S1 Artspace 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.
Neil Woodall
A loveable and inky t-shirted aquatint pro, working in the most incredible studio we've ever stepped foot in.
From Works
An architecture and design duo, searching out both inspiration and material in the city and its neighbouring Peak District.
Jennie Gill
Precious stones and metals glimmering in all directions – Jennie's jewellery workshop is a delight!
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.
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.
We Live Here
Jonathan Wilkinson's architectural illustrations are a celebration of our unconventionally beautiful city.
Now Then
Now Then magazine is a hero of "citizen journalism" in Sheffield, acting as an alternative resource on the city's politics, communities and independent spirit since 2008.
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.
Sheffield Creative Guild
A community of over 550 creative members, sharing inspiration, pooling ideas, and nurturing collaboration.
Ruby Robinson
A South Yorks poet, whose candid, vulnerable and vigilant work will leave you open-mouthed.
Jeremy Abrahams
With his Arrivals project, Jeremy took photos of one person who arrived in Sheffield from overseas for every year since 1945.
Mamnick
"Doing one thing at a time, as beautifully as possible" is this fashion and accessory designer's philosophy.
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.
Ignite Imaginations
A charity dedicated to connecting, inspiring and enlivening Sheffield communities through creativity.
The Audacious Art Experiment
A record label and arts collective set up the DIY way and run according to a simple ethos: "be excellent to one another."
Drenge
The Loveless brothers from Castleton have a knack for crafting darkly alluring anti-love songs.
PHS x OFP Cocktail Menu
A collaborative cocktail menu inspired by Picture House Social's favourite Sheffield businesses.