The Sheffield Culture Strategy

Sheffield is a city filled with inspiring artists, makers, and doers. Our artists, musicians, and designers are known around the world. However, as a city, there is much more we can do to support these individuals in flourishing.

With this in mind, a fresh vision has been developed for creativity, arts, and culture in Sheffield. This vision aims to ensure that everyone who lives, works, or visits here has the opportunity to participate, collaborate, and benefit from arts and culture in the city.

The Culture Strategy has been commissioned by Sheffield City Council, the University of Sheffield, and Arts Council England, and has been delivered by the creative consultancy Fourth Street, Sheffield-based social enterprise Opus Independents, and a team of cultural freelancers from the city.

The strategy’s commissioners commenced a citywide consultation on culture, engaging with Sheffield’s creative community to shape this new initiative.

The Culture Strategy has three creative missions which summarise its ethos and aims.

1. Ignite - Invest in the foundations for culture to thrive.
   1. Build an equitable, transparent, collective leadership structure.
   2. Creative organisations and individuals will have the opportunity access the spaces, skillsets, networks and tools they need to grow and thrive.
   3. Establish new funding mechanisms to bring more resources into the sector.
2. Accelerate - Catalyse the sector’s creative potential sustainably.
   1. Sheffield’s creative economy will be larger, providing more jobs, investment, reach, and profile.
   2. Young people and future talent will have clear pathways to pursue creative hobbies, passions, and careers.
   3. Growth will have positive social, environmental, and economic impacts across the city.
3. Elevate - Bring the world to Sheffield and Sheffield to the world!
   1. Everyone should be able to experience the benefits of culture.
   2. Culture will be the world’s window into Sheffield.
   3. Our festivals, events, and night-time economy will be more famous internationally, more sustainable, and will reflect the diversity of our communities.

This strategy is built on the time, effort, and ideas of so many brilliant people across Sheffield’s creative sector. We are greatly indebted to them all for their energy and passion.

You can download a copy of The Sheffield Culture Strategy here.