An award has been given out for Sheffield’s best public art – and these are the winners

A Yorkshire expression writ large on a prominent wall and a trail that has turned nondescript street furniture into colourful mini-murals have been named Sheffield’s best pieces of public art as a biennial award becomes an annual prize.
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Rob Lee’s bold Now Then Then Now, painted on the side of a row of terraces on Howard Street heading uphill from Sheffield railway station, and the Kelham Island Arts & Cultural Heritage Trail are the joint winners of the Keith Hayman Award – the first time the honour has gone to two recipients.

Normally bestowed as part of the Sheffield Design Awards, held every two years, the prize will now be handed out every 12 months in recognition of the growing amount of high-quality public art in the city.

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The announcement was made last night at a retrospective held to mark a decade of the design awards, which are organised by the Sheffield Civic Trust and became an independently registered charity in 2018. More than 100 guests gathered at Sheffield University’s Arts Tower for a celebratory event.

‘Kelham Island Arts & Cultural Heritage Trail’ delivered by KINCA. Picture: Street Art Sheffield‘Kelham Island Arts & Cultural Heritage Trail’ delivered by KINCA. Picture: Street Art Sheffield
‘Kelham Island Arts & Cultural Heritage Trail’ delivered by KINCA. Picture: Street Art Sheffield

Environmentalist, artist, retired town planner and Civic Trust trustee Keith Hayman died suddenly in 2013 aged 69, after he collapsed while cycling to his home off Ecclesall Road. The prize in his name is traditionally presented by his widow, Janet, and previous winners include Martin Jennings’ Women of Steel sculpture in Barker’s Pool.

Now Then Then Now was commissioned for the 10th anniversary of Now Then magazine, while the mini-mural trail was curated by Kelham Island & Neepsend Community Alliance and painted by Kelham Island Arts Collective, who created pictures on GPO exchange boxes around the neighbourhood.

Special recognition was given to Museums Sheffield's window mural programme at the Millennium Gallery, which is now in its eighth year. The large balcony space facing Arundel Gate is currently showcasing Paul Morrison’s portrait of Edward Carpenter, commemorating 175 years since the gay activist and socialist poet’s birth.

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The retrospective event was hosted by Ed Highfield, director of city growth at Sheffield Council. Speakers were picked to span the past decade – among them were Ben Otter from AXIS Architecture, who won in 2010 for their redevelopment of Leopold Square; Anya Sutton, a partner at Thread Architects, who triumphed in 2016 with a stylish revamp of her own house in Slinn Street, Crookes; and James O’Hara, of the cocktail bar Public in the former gents’ toilets under Sheffield Town Hall, which won the small project award in 2018.

‘Now Then Then Now’ on Howard Street by Rob Lee. Picture: Street Art Sheffield‘Now Then Then Now’ on Howard Street by Rob Lee. Picture: Street Art Sheffield
‘Now Then Then Now’ on Howard Street by Rob Lee. Picture: Street Art Sheffield

Corin Mellor, son of the late cutlery-maker David Mellor who is now an esteemed designer in his own right and leads the family business, has become the first patron of the Sheffield Design Awards charity.

Martin McKervey, chair of the Sheffield Property Association which sponsored the retrospective, said: “Good design goes hand-in-hand with our focus on attracting investment into the city and acting as a positive voice in the debate about how best to drive forward regeneration.”

The eight pieces of public art shortlisted for the 2019 Keith Hayman award were:

‘Chimney #01’ at Hollis Croft by David Appleyard

Chimney #01, by David Appleyard. Picture: Mike MylesChimney #01, by David Appleyard. Picture: Mike Myles
Chimney #01, by David Appleyard. Picture: Mike Myles

‘Different Today’ at Site Gallery by Tim Etchells

‘Horsetail’ at Site Gallery by Paul Morrison

‘Now Then Then Now’ on Howard Street by Rob Lee

‘Sheffield Mural’ on Howard Street by Jo Peel

‘Different Today’ at Site Gallery by Tim Etchells. Picture: Andrew Jackson‘Different Today’ at Site Gallery by Tim Etchells. Picture: Andrew Jackson
‘Different Today’ at Site Gallery by Tim Etchells. Picture: Andrew Jackson
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‘Sheffield: The city as an egg’ at Sheffield Hallam University by Jack Weller

‘Kelham Island Arts & Cultural Heritage Trail’ delivered by KINCA

'The Window Mural Project' at the Millennium Gallery, by Museums Sheffield

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