We've teamed up with Sheffield Flourish  to present art from the communities we support at an exhibition at the Moor Market.

The exhibition will be on display from 6 to 10 October, ending on World Mental Health Day. It will feature over 90 artworks from people with lived experience of mental health conditions and carers from Sheffield. Organisers asked artists to consider the question ‘what’s your viewpoint?’ in creating their artwork and respond to the changing ways they see the world following the COVID-19 pandemic.

The exhibition is part of the Sheffield Arts Festival, run each year by SHSC. The focus of the festival will be on the role of the arts in health and wellbeing, with videos and visual media highlighting how music, visual art and writing is essential for many, especially during this stressful year.

The exhibition is completely free to visit. However to make it as accessible as possible and because of ongoing and changing restrictions due to COVID-19, the entire exhibition will be available to view on the Sheffield Flourish website. So if you are shielding or do not feel safe visiting the Moor Market you can still view all the artwork.

You can follow the Arts Festival on Instagram at @SHSC_nhsft with daily posts, videos and behind the scenes insight from the festival’s organisers.

Soo Boswell, Arts in Health Coordinator at SHSC and Arts Festival lead, said: “Making art and being creative has never been more important than it is today. It can provide distraction and relaxation but can also be a way of getting out those difficult, hard to reach emotions. As artist Ruth Negga said – ‘I like connecting with people, and that’s what art is, a point of connection’.”

Jo Eckersley, Deputy Managing Director at Sheffield Flourish, commented: “We are massively proud of our CAST art group, which has been volunteer-led for over a decade. This is our 11th annual exhibition, and we are really excited to share the work of our long-time members, as well as new faces. It’s been a challenge organising an exhibition during this time, but we are so grateful to be able to bring a bit of brightness, beauty, and humour to the Moor Market this year.