About Us
We focus on achievement, self-belief, collaborative practice and teamwork whilst supporting our artists to play an active role within their community.
ArtWorks aims to challenge people’s perceptions of learning disabilities and autism through celebrating the creativity and ambition of our artists.
Art & Workshops
We exist to support and promote the creation of quality practice by the ArtWorks Collective.
Our artists are given the opportunity to participate in workshops run by professional creatives that specialise in different mediums ranging from painting and sculpture, to film, photography, animation and performance. The workshops help our artists learn new techniques and create work for exhibitions and projects.
Film & Animation
Our film making workshops cover a range of technical disciplines and areas of film making practice. These range from documentary, short film and stop motion animation, to photography and commercial videography. We aim to provide a comprehensive film making experience, so our artists can focus on what best appeals to them.
All of our workshops and projects make use of our professional film making equipment and facilities, including video cameras, studio lighting, audio recorders, photography equipment, green screen and an animation table. We invest in our facilities, so the vision of an artist remains uncompromised by the tools available to them. Click here to see some of the videos our artists have been involved with.
Exhibitions and Residencies
We have supported our artists to showcase their work in various galleries and public spaces across the UK. Below are a few examples of where we have exhibited.
Sheffield
Bloc Projects
B&B Gallery
Sidney + Matilda
Virgin Money
Lounge
Sheffield Town Hall
Cupola Gallery
Theatre Deli
Millenium Galleries
Sheffield Botanical
Gardens
StoneFace
The Winter Gardens
Barnsley
The Civic
Rotherham
Rotherham Town Hall
Riverside House
Coterie Gallery
Wentworth Woodhouse
Bird Hide, Thrybergh Country Park
Further a Field
Fish Factory, Cornwall
Piano Nobil Gallery, London
The Craft Barn, Hadfield
Kew Gardens, London
Paralym Art World Cup, Japan
TV
Represented by We3 Art Hire Worldwide- rentals include Tiger Aspect for design on viewpoints.
Volunteer Placements
Our volunteer placements are unique and specially selected to meet the needs of our artists. These placements are fully supported by the ArtWorks team and help our artists to build workplace skills and prepare them for work, in safe and supportive environment, whilst playing an active role in their community.
Click here to see more information about our placements.
Where we volunteer: Wentworth Woodhouse, Sheffield Doc Fest, Theatre Deli, Site Gallery, Bloc Projects, The Local Theatre, The Special Olympics, The State Of The Arts, The Retired Greyhound Trust, The Wildlife Trust, Grimm & Co, Giant Leap Productions, Curo Gallery, Stone Face Creative, Warp Films.
Wentworth Woodhouse
Sheffield Doc Fest
The Retired Greyhound Trust
Site Gallery
The Special Olympics
Wildlife Trust
Street Art and Commissions
We regularly work on bespoke commissions creating large scale street art through to artwork for private collections. Our art is often commissioned for use on prime-time television and film as backgrounds and in sets.
If you have a project you would like us to support with or you are
interested in owning or commissioning your very own piece of
artwork, then please contact Emma via email:
Bloc Projects
Theatre Deli
Cliff House Care Home
Sheffield Wednesday
Wentworth Woodhouse
Roof Top Hoardings Entrance Tunnel
The Local Theatre
Band Album Cover 'Molejoy'
Artist Assistance
Feature Walls
Florence Blanchard- Twinkle
Life Skills
One of our core values is to ensure our artists have all the tools they require to get the best out of life, not just in the world of Art. We take pride in our extensive life skills programme which includes regular cooking, baking, shopping and budgeting sessions.
We work closely with the Police, NHS, and Fire Service to run regular sessions on health and safety for example ʻFire Safety in the Homeʼ or ʻStaying Safe Out and Aboutʼ. Our life skills sessions are directly linked to our community work, such as our Annual Santaʼs Grotto for the local children, our Afternoon Tea sessions for the elderly or our free Community Art Sessions run by our disabled artists.
Through our sessions we instils independence, confidence, and the tools to make informed life choices, whilst having a positive impact on our surroundings.
Active Life and Fitness
Closely linked to our life skills programme, we promote fitness, encourage teamwork and nurture mindfulness, through gym and swim sessions, yoga, meditation, dance, weekly walking groups, and friendly games.
These sessions add further opportunities for our artists to develop skills such as coordination, communication, road safety and map reading.
Being able to be fit and active is important and we ensure everyone that attends ArtWorks has access to fitness and well-being sessions, including free weekly swimming lessons and gym sessions.
By ensuring our artists have access to a full programme of creative practices, life skills and fitness sessions we are able to offer a complete package to support our artists to achieve their goals and get the best out of life.
Respite Break
We offer an annual respite holiday for our artists to support their independence and allow them chance to experience exciting and new activities with their friends from ArtWorks.
Without this break many of our artists would not get to experience a holiday. We think that the prospect of never going on holiday, having a break, seeing new places and experiencing new things isnʼt acceptable. Our artists and staff look forward all year to our holiday as we have so many fun activities planned.
Awards & Competitions
ArtWorks have been granted numerous awards and supported our artists to enter and win competitions.
In 2017 we were chosen to be one of the Lord Mayor of Sheffield's chosen Charities, hosting many fundraising events and art auctions to raise money for the Lord Mayor's chosen charities.
In 2019 two of our artists were selected to exhibit work at the Outside In National Exhibition at Piano Nobil Gallery in London. One of our artists, Alistair, won a prize at the exhibition, which was awarded by high profile artist Grayson Perry.
In 2021 we were awarded the Sparkle Sheffield Autism Award for Big Impact for Autism.
