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Friends of Sheffield City Centre

@friends.ofscc

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A voluntary group who litter pick, scrub, clean, plant and paint to make the city centre more beautiful. Creating and Doing is in our DNA.

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Welcome to the Friends of Sheffield City Centre and thanks for following.
We are a group of volunteers who got together in Oct’21 to help clean up and improve public spaces within the inner city ring road.
The pandemic had a significant impact on resources and the overall streetscene. We started litter picking, scrubbing and reporting the most neglected areas.
It soon became clear that we needed to formalise our group to be able to apply for funding to help with projects the council did not have the money for which we did in Sept ‘23. We had been complaining and complaining about the state of the oak seating in Tudor Sqaure. We were told they had been quoted £25k to replace the hand carved artisan seating and they just didn’t have the money. So we started with that...
Over the last couple of years we have raised £48,900 in grant funding. We have worked on planting, painting and cleaning projects.
Sheffield is full of creative, resourceful and hard working people. And we have been fortunate to work with a few so far. We’ve just scratched the surface and hope to work with more of you. If you have ideas, share them and we will try to find the funding.
Our city centre councillors are supportive, so are city centre management and Sheffield Business Improvement District.
We work with anyone who wants to make the city better.
We also believe in these uncertain times, it will be the creatives who save us and our public spaces... taken in Sheffield, UK by @friends.ofscc

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10 months ago

"She Weeps"

Spray paint on wooden boards

This piece draws from gothic literature and architecture in building a scene around decay, despair, and a haunting atmosphere. This scene aims to evoke a sense of bittersweet loss, in which even the beautiful and the divine fall, yet mother nature prevails, even after mistreatment.
I visited several overgrown Victorian graveyards during the development of this design, taking inspiration from the many statues I found there and the sombre atmosphere. The headstones which had sunk into the ground, now illegible and consumed by ivy, were most poignant, and it was this idea of finding beauty in returning to the earth once forgotten that drove me to create the piece.

I want to thank Bridget from @friends.ofscc for the amazing work she does across the city and for providing me with the opportunity to create this piece.

This was my first time painting a mural, and also my first time working with spray paint. Under the constraints of a very limited timeframe due to my own availability, I also had to battle with the wind and rain to get this piece finished. Despite the challenges, it was a very enjoyable process.

I am thrilled to have been able to contribute to the ever growing Sheffield street art scene. You can find the mural on Pond Street, opposite the Sheffield Interchange.

#sheffieldstreetart #streetartuk #muralart #gothicart taken in Sheffield City Centre by @friends.ofscc

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20 hours ago

Challenging the odds in Sheffield.

The human instinct to fight back when the odds are stacked against you is a fascinating thing. I love stepping into the uncertain. Why? I have no idea. But I do know I hate to see the antelope being taken down. taken in Sheffield, United Kingdom by @friends.ofscc

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4 days ago

We’re in love with the new mural at Watt Bar! 💛

A massive thank you to @ruokmyluv and @friends.ofscc for bringing it to life. It adds so much colour to the street and we couldn’t be happier with how it’s turned out.

Next time you’re passing, make sure you check it out! 📸 🎨 ⚡️ by @friends.ofscc

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6 days ago

JAY
Guardian of the Woods

This is by far the biggest wall I’ve painted in town so far. I had a lot of challenges with this project technically, but the biggest challenge I faced was doubt. I changed compositions, ideas and colours throughout which made my life a little harder, but this was my own fault 😅.

I have never painted skin tones with spray paint before and was really out of my comfort zone, especially as she was made from my head and not from a photo. I re did her face about 5 times and although she’s not perfect I’ve learnt a lot from this project and that’s valuable.

In this mural I wanted to combine my illustrative storytelling with the abstract elements I’ve been experimenting with over the past year or two. I don’t think it’s the most technically perfect piece but I feel like I’ve achieved the feeling I set out too.

Huge thanks to @watt_bar for their incredibly lovely staff giving me encouragement, food and drinks! And Andy for allowing me to paint this huge wall.

Once again thank you to @friends.ofscc for giving me an opportunity to experiment and trusting my vision. Shout out @thenationallottery for funding the project.

Also a massive shout out to @lezaxer for assisting for a week and really helping me solve some of the creative problems I was having! Couldn’t have done it without you man!

Btw it’s been a very grey day so sorry about the over editing on the pics. Might post one in the sun later on.

God speed 🪶🦋🦊 taken in Sheffield, UK by @friends.ofscc

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7 days ago

Back out fixing the walls of Sheffield, this time on Hawley Street 📌 Bit of a double decker build this time! 🧱

#StreetRepairs #Lego #SheffieldCityCentre taken in Sheffield City Centre by @friends.ofscc

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8 days ago

Exchange Gateway - Sheffield

We brightened up an alleyway on Fargate this weekend. Big thanks to @friends.ofscc for giving us the opportunity to work on some new ideas ✨ by @friends.ofscc

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15 days ago

Former Black Swan/Boardwalk

We are waiting for Luke Passey to post about this project, but in the meantime we just want to comment on the hidden social value of such projects.💞

While Luke was painting an elderly gentleman stopped to talk to him everyday over two weeks.🗣️

He came into town on the bus and was already aware he was starting to have memory problems.🚍

He told Luke watching him paint, chatting and seeing the progression of his painting had been very important and uplifting for him. 🫂

This is because he was able to remember and recognise the daily changes that were being made to the building as Luke’s painting progressed. 🎨

It is becoming more widely recognised that street art and public murals help people with cognitive decline by serving as visual landmarks for navigation, reducing anxiety, and breaking down social stigmas.🧠

Visual arts engage non-verbal regions of the brain, allowing individuals who struggle with language or memory loss to communicate emotions and experience moments of joy and lucidity through sparking neural pathways and retrieving dormant memories. 🎆🌠

The artists and graffiti writers who have been transforming Sheffield City Centre all say the same thing. The public love to see them working and always stop to chat. This is particularly evident with elderly people who come into town regularly. 🩷

If we want to help people stay mobile, engaged and independent then prioritising public spaces as urban art galleries is very important to facilitate this, the art is not just a ‘nice to have’.🖼️ by @friends.ofscc

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16 days ago

5500 pieces later 💞✨ taken in Sheffield by @friends.ofscc

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a month ago

We have been wanting to work with @stoglife again since the Pounds Park Paint Jam last September.

It’s difficult to get decent photos of his latest wall in the city centre, which is why an in-person visit is best.

We would like to thank our local City Ward councillors Douglas Johnson, Ruth Mersereau and Maia Salman Lord for match funding this wall.

Without their support we would find it even harder to get funding for our city centre projects.

With AI looming large in all walks of life, it is particularly devastating for artists.

As a group we are committed to supporting artists in the public domain, where people can see them working and talk to them about their work. by @friends.ofscc

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a month ago

‘The house party’

Our first joint piece as a duo between us (@whett.paint & @ellespaint ) with more to come!

Thank you Bridget @friends.ofscc for providing the space and for being super helpful throughout🪩✨

📍 Carver Street (Cambridge Street Collective) taken in Sheffield City Centre by @friends.ofscc

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2 months ago

We've been out fixing Sheffield's walls with LEGO® again 🧱👷‍♂️ Thanks to @friends.ofscc for this one ❤️

See if you can spot it on Eyre Lane📍

#LegoCafe #StreetRepairs #SheffieldCityCentre by @friends.ofscc

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2 months ago