About

Arts Catalyst is a visual arts organisation and charity based in Sheffield, UK.

VISION

Enabling people in South Yorkshire and beyond to engage in creative experiences that increase ecological awareness, encourage positive social action and open up new ways of learning about the world around us.

A Black man and woman work on a raised flower bed in an inner city garden on a summer day. The man, artist Harun Morrison is planting a small plant, while the woman tends to the soil.
Mind Garden Open Day (2022), Harun Morrison. Image Credit: James Clarkson

MISSION

We activate spaces for people to think differently about the world around them using art to explore social and environmental issues, provoke debate, and test out alternative ways of learning.

We collaborate with artists, activists and people with different kinds of knowledge to organise creative projects that respond to social and environmental issues. Our programme often takes place within community spaces, unusual sites and outdoors.

A crowd of people watch Limpe Fuchs performing in an underground cave lit by warm white and purple lighting casting shadows on the rocks.
Limpe Fuchs performing at Treak Cliff Cavern (2023). Image Credit: Ai Narapol

OUR VALUES

We believe

We work in ways that

three people sit in chairs outside in a garden space with  their eyes closed and have one hand resting on their hearts.
Earth Writing Workshop (2022), Rachel Pimm and Maymana Arefin. Image Credit: Emma Bentley-Fox

OUR STORY

Arts Catalyst was founded in 1994. Based in London for 26 years, in 2020 the organisation moved to Sheffield. Over the last three decades we have commissioned over 170 creative projects that have at their heart a desire to connect people with ideas about the world around them. 

A group of about 12 people are sitting or standing in two small wooden boats in water in the Arctic. They are all wrapped up warm in coats and hats. There is a man and a boy on the snow covered shore supervising the launch of the boats. Floating ice packs can be seen in the sea behind the scene and the sea reflects the blue of the sky which has wisps of cloud in it.
Arctic Perspective Initiative (2009), Marko Peljhan and Matthew Biederman

We have commissioned artists including The Otolith Group, Trevor Mathison, Aleksandra Mir, Larry Achiampong & David Blandy, Agnes Meyer Brandis and The Alternative School of Economics, and delivered projects in unusual contexts, sites of ecological interest and cultural institutions across the world. This includes the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center (Russia), along the Thames Estuary, the River Calder and within the Arctic, as well as Z33 (Belgium), Otago Museum (New Zealand), Microwave Festival (Hong Kong), and Laboratorio Arte Alameda (Mexico), amongst others. 

a large iridescent deflated dome is seen lying on the ground in a filed at sunrise, with a yellow sun on the flat horizon. There are silhouetted figures standing against the light
Poetic Cosmos of the Breath (2007), Thomas Saraceno

The first two decades of our work are characterised by innovative artist projects that brought together scientific research with creative practice to produce ambitious and experimental artworks, exhibitions and performances for the public to engage with.

A dimly lit room is set up with glass science equipment on a table which is lit by blue and purple lighting which is thrown around the room, making the walls look purple. In front of the table is a Black man who is operating a mixing desk and wearing a blue boiler suit next to a set of speakers. Three Black people are watching him while taking photos on their phones. Behind them are more people listening or watching other artworks out of shot.
Dreamed Native Ancestry (2017), Mission//Misplaced Memory

Since 2014, our focus has shifted towards projects that are deeply rooted in places and address the ways in which local environmental challenges and their social impacts are connected to the wider climate crisis. To do this, we collaborate with artists, activists, interest groups and people with different kinds of expertise on long term artistic projects and programmes that support critical thinking, creative exploration and alternative ways of learning about issues at hand.

This approach is reflected in the geographic shift to Sheffield in 2020, where we have begun a series of long-term experiments in building relationships and embedding ourselves within different parts of South Yorkshire through our Emergent Ecologies programme, in partnership with City of Sanctuary and Sheffield Mind

A group of people stand outside on a sunny summer’s day, some of them with sun hats on in an urban garden. They are tasting cool herbal drinks, yellow in colour with samples laid on a table.
Mind Garden Open Day (2022), Harun Morrison and collaborators. Image Credit: James Clarkson

Emergent Ecologies expands on the work we started in 2019 with Recentring Attention, a programme of workshops and walks conceived as a collective public research process in Sheffield that explored the ways in which extraction, industry and geology have shaped the relationships between humans and non-humans in the region. 

Whilst we continue to root ourselves long term in Sheffield, we also nurture new connections between South Yorkshire and other parts of the world through initiatives like Soil Futures — a network and project between Arts Catalyst, Sakiya — Art / Science / Agriculture (Palestine), Riwaq – center for architectural conservation (Palestine); Vessel Art Project (South Italy) and Struggles for Sovereignty (Indonesia). 

Soft Ground

Soft Ground is a free to access public space for learning, shared by creative charity and not for profit organisations who advocate for social change through arts and community practices.

It was set up by Arts Catalyst on a temporary basis for charities and community groups to host meetings, events and creative activities as well as providing a resource space in the city centre.

Where can I find it?
Soft Ground is located at 37-41 The Moor, Sheffield S1 4PF.

During exhibitions, the space is open to the public Wednesdays – Saturdays, 12-5pm. Please check the What’s On page to find out more about our current programme.

A corner of a white room has two tall natural plywood bookcases with some books and magazines and plants on the shelves. On the left hand wall there is a row of windows letting in natural light. In the foreground are some white tables cut in curvy shapes.

Why have we set it up?
We are testing out ways of creating civic space in Sheffield city centre. Soft Ground explores how a shared site can become a communal resource for artists, cultural producers, communities, groups and members of the public to meet, learn and socialise with each other.

Who is it for and who are we working with?
Soft Ground will host events, workshops and creative activities open to the public. It is programmed by Arts Catalyst and partners including Chol Theatre & Arts, Migration Matters Festival, and Sheffield Community Bike Project. It also offers meeting and workshop space for local groups and communities. 

Soft Ground a larhe white space with grey carpet floors and white columns
Soft Ground main space. April 2023

Access
Soft Ground is a space which we are occupying on a temporary basis. It is on the first floor of a building on The Moor in Sheffield city centre. It has lift access and a disabled all gender toilet. It has windows that open to the outside. For groups using the space there is a small kitchen with tea and coffee making facilities.

How to get to Soft Ground
As an environmentally conscious organisation we encourage you to walk, cycle or use public transport to get to Soft Ground, although we understand for some people this is not possible. Sheffield Railway station is a 12 minute walk away. Most bus and tram transport links in Sheffield pass through the city centre. The nearest tram stop is on West Street.
Parking near Soft Ground – The nearest car park is Eyre Street (The Moor) Car Park – APCOA. Atkinson’s Multistorey car park is also nearby, along with Matilda Street Car Park (Euro Car park) and NCP Car Park on Furnival Gate. You will find on street car parking – particularly before 10am and after 4.30pm weekdays – on the streets surrounding Arundel Street.

How to get involved
Soft Ground is available to hire for charities and community groups to host meetings, events and creative activities on an occasional basis. We will advertise any open calls for specific periods Soft Ground is available to hire through our Opportunities page

a group of people sit on chairs in a circle at Soft Ground. It is a light neutral painted space
Sonic Walk Workshop with Ashley Holmes (2022). Image Credit: Sophie Okonkwo

The interior of Soft Ground has been designed and built by Sheffield-based architecture practice Studio Polpo.

Our Partners

We are proud to be working with Sheffield Mind and City of Sanctuary Sheffield on our current Emergent Ecologies programme.

Sheffield Mind is an independent charity whose mission is to improve wellbeing and provide advice and support to empower anyone experiencing a mental health problem.

City of Sanctuary Sheffield is an independent charity working in solidarity with people seeking sanctuary in Sheffield.

red and a yellow stylised human figures with no legs join arms in the air creating an arch
City of Sanctuary Sheffield
A white man uses some heavy machinery to drill a hole on a concrete piece of ground in a small garden surrounded by blocks of flats. Garden waste can be seen to the side and a woman is working on the garden in the background, near some rosemary shrubs.
Sheffield Mind
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