Bethany Stafford, currently in her 2nd year on the ceramic starter studio programme, has been awarded this years All Fired Up commission – a partnership between SYHA-South Yorkshire Housing Association, Museums Sheffield and YA. This annual commission provides an exciting opportunity for talented early career makers on our programme to gain experience of the commissioning process, engage SYHA customers in the design process and enable the artist to develop ambitious new work.

This year SYHA wanted the commissioned artist to work with customers from LivingWell - a project that works with people who have been accessing specialist mental health care to settle in their own home, live well and realise their potential.

Beth’s own abstract ceramics are inspired by brutalist architecture – she wanted to mirror some of the processes that she goes through when creating new work with the participants and asked them to look at buildings in Sheffield for inspiration.

Over the last few weeks Beth has been delivering sessions in the starter studio with 3 LivingWell customers and key workers. They have worked together to explore colour, texture and form through a range of fast-paced creative activities with multiple materials culminating in the last session where they learnt the slipcasting process to create their own ceramic forms that they decorated and glazed. These will be fired by Beth and ultimately given back to each participant as decorative objects for their own home. Beth will also incorporate each person’s forms into a large scale collaborative artwork ‘city-scape’ that will be displayed at Millennium Galleries form 8 June – 1 Oct 2018 which will ultimately enter Museums Sheffield’s permanent collection.

Beth will be giving a Maker Talk at M:G on 18 June 1-2pm FREE no need to book.

Image credit James Mulkeen

Following on from our successful partnership with South Yorkshire Housing Asociation, Museums Sheffield and Potclays Limited on our ‘All Fired Up' commission in 2017, we have teamed up again, this time with starter studio holder and ceramicist Bethany Stafford.

Beth held a range of interactive sessions with customers from South Yorkshire Housing, and used her experience with the groups as inspiration for two new pieces of ceramic work. Once completed, one of these works will be displayed in the foyer of Museums Sheffield and one will be presented to the residents at South Yorkshire Housing Association, to take pride of place with the people who helped inspire it.

Below are some of our favourite images from the workshop sessions we held with customers earlier this year.

Beth will be speaking about her work in a 'Maker's Talk' at Millennium Galleries on 18th June 1pm-2pm in the Learning Centre next to the cafe. This will be a free event- no need to book, just turn up.

Applications are open until 30th April 2018 for our Starter Studio programme for ceramicists here at Yorkshire Artspace.