What we do

 

ArtWorks South Yorkshire is a non-profit creative arts organisation. We aim to inspire and help adults with learning disabilities and/or autism to achieve their potential. We do this via supporting people to develop important life skills, through creative workshops and placements. 

 

We support our artists to create and exhibit their artwork and participate in work placements within the creative industries. And most importantly, to have fun! 

 

ArtWorks aims to support people’s development, through exploring artistic expression. Artists attend our day service at one of three centres, in Sheffield and Rotherham, on a schedule that suits them. Some artists attend for half a day per week. Others attend for five full days a week. Artists are encouraged to develop their skills through a range of workshops and placements led by our experienced staff. 

 

Our person-centred approach ensures that our artists are able to pursue a line of work that they find fulfilling. We encourage our artists to undertake their own individual ongoing projects.  

 

Throughout the pandemic, our service has adapted. We have found new ways of ensuring that opportunities to create and exhibit work remain in place for our artists. We have achieved this through running remote workshops and creating a series of online exhibitions. We also hosted a public event through our recent Open Studios event.  

 

2021 saw the debut of Artworks Together. This was an international art competition open to artists with learning disabilities and/or autism. ArtWorks received over a thousand submissions from around the world. The exhibition took place at the prestigious Wentworth Woodhouse in Rotherham. Artworks Together is the latest of many steps we have taken to improve the quality of opportunities available to our artists.

 

ArtWorks does not function as a direct employment agency. What we offer instead is an unique opportunity for creative skills and expression to be developed. We believe that the experiences we are able to offer, and the skills we seek to develop are invaluable. This is so for both personal and professional development. We recognise that there are vast differences between the opportunity available and accessible, to neurotypical and neurodivergent artists.

 

Find out more about ArtWorks.