Working Together

We work closely with several key organisations on an an ongoing basis:

The V&A
The city has had a strategic partnership with the Victoria & Albert Museum since 1999. It has enabled the people of Sheffield to enjoy high quality collections and exhibitions and the trust has benefitted from curatorial advice and professional expertise through talks, secondments, trustee involvement and training.

From 2018-2021 we partnered with the V&A on Phase 1 of their national secondary school programme, DesignLab Nation which saw young people from across Sheffield using the collections to explore a range of design challenges as part of their development.

We are delighted that the 2022-23 programme DesignLab Sheffield is generously supported by Charles Turner of Durham Duplex, with support from the V&A.

The Guild of St George
The Guild of St George’s Ruskin Collection celebrates the visionary ideas of the Victorian artist and writer, John Ruskin. Sheffield Museums works closely with the Guild through its stewardship of the collection.

The Ken Hawley Collection Trust
The Ken Hawley Tool Collection is stored and displayed at Kelham Island Museum. The trust is working with the Hawley Trust to maximise opportunities to collect, display and engage with this aspect of the city’s heritage.

We work with lots of organisations, communities and individuals on a wide range of projects each year. In 2022/23, these include:

National Portrait Gallery
Our strong relationship with the National Portrait Gallery continued in 2022 project with Creative Connections, delivered in collaboration with artist Conor Rogers and students from Sheffield Park Academy. The resulting exhibition, Creative Connections Sheffield opened in June 2022 and included works from the national and Sheffield’s collection, alongside work created by Conor and the students.

Sheffield Assay Office
In 2022 we celebrated 20 years of the commissioning programme Precious Little Gems with a new display in collaboration with Sheffield Assay Office. We are working together to mark the 250th anniversary of the company in 2023.

ArtWorks
ArtWorks challenge people’s perceptions of learning disabilities and autism through celebrating the creativity and ambition of the artists they work with. Over 80 artists contributed to the design for a new vinyl window installation, Bubbles at the Millennium Gallery, which opened in June 2022.

Photoworks
We worked with Photoworks and artist Johny Pitts to create the Home is Not a Place exhibition at the Graves Gallery. The exhibition was developed through the Ampersand/Photoworks Fellowship, a new biennial research and development opportunity for mid-career artists using photography. The Fellowships is a collaboration between The Ampersand Foundation and Photoworks, kindly supported by Spectrum Photographic and Arts Council England.

South Yorkshire Integrated Care Strategy
The power of creativity and culture to improve health and wellbeing is well-documented – but could it do more? We’re working with Sheffield City Council on a collaboration between cultural and health professional, politicians and policy-makers that would see the arts and health sectors working more closely together to support wellbeing in the region. Find out more here

Sheffield Culture Consortium
Our membership of the Sheffield Culture Consortium continues to be of strategic importance as we seek to position culture as a key component in the city’s recovery and development. We work alongside colleagues at Sheffield Theatres, Site Gallery, The Showroom, Doc/Fest, Yorkshire Artspace, Music in the Round and the Universities, to develop the Consortium’s role and deliver on its strategic objectives. The Consortium was key to the delivery of Covid recovery funding for the city’s freelance creative practitioners. The Trust continues to administer the Sheffield Culture Consortium Visual Art Newsletter.

Sheffield Culture Collective
We are a founding member of the Sheffield Culture Collective. The Collective works together to develop a strategy that will place culture at the heart of a strong, vibrant and inclusive city and as a key component in city centre development, the visitor economy, the Local Industrial Strategy and the Strategic Economic Plan for the city region – including Covid-19 recovery strategies.

South Yorkshire Museums
We meet regularly with our regional peers in Barnsley, Doncaster and Rotherham and discusses opportunities to share learning and resources as well as connecting planning.