Find out at Sheffield exhibition how art can help with your mental health

A new exhibition at the Moor Market this week features 90 works of art created by people coping with mental health issues and their carers.
Julia Armstrong
By Julia Armstrong
Published 6th Oct 2020, 19:29 BST
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The exhibition is on display now until Saturday (October 10), which is World Mental Health Day. The artists’ work responds to the changing ways they see the world following the pandemic.

The exhibition is part of the Sheffield Arts Festival, run each year by Sheffield Health and Social Care NHS Foundation Trust (SHSC), working withmental health charity Sheffield Flourish.

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The festival celebrates the role of the arts in health and well-being, with videos and visual media highlighting how music, visual art and writing is essential for many, especially this year.

This work created by a group of service users staying at the Maple Ward, Longley Centre, Sheffield is on display as part of the art showThis work created by a group of service users staying at the Maple Ward, Longley Centre, Sheffield is on display as part of the art show
This work created by a group of service users staying at the Maple Ward, Longley Centre, Sheffield is on display as part of the art show

To make it as accessible as possible and because of changing restrictions due to Covid-19, the exhibition is also available online at sheffieldflourish.co.uk. So if you are shielding or do not feel safe visiting the market you can still view the work.

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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.

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"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’.”

If you are struggling with your mental health, call Sheffield Mental Health Guide, run by Sheffield Flourish, on 0114 273 7009, weekdays.

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