The art of brightening up Sheffield streets is all in a day’s work for Anna

Anna Netri works as the public art officer for Sheffield City Council, a role she says is little known but has been in place since 2008. An artist, architect and urban designer, she has worked in the job part time since 2022, and is based in the council planning department.

“There are so many councils that haven’t got a public art officer,” Anna said. “Public art consultants were really surprised we do and are looking at Sheffield as a successful model.”

Anna works alongside both developers and artists to create public art projects in the city, often involving local communities as well. One of her biggest projects to date was the Covid Memorial in Barkers Pool in the city centre but she works on lots of far smaller schemes as well.

Sometimes a public art project has to be delivered by developers as a requirement of a scheme they are building and in other cases companies have to make a financial contribution to local facilities, including art projects.

Part of Anna’s role involves spotting opportunities that occur.

Gaps

“It’s not just that I’ve got a background as an architect, designer and artist myself,” she said, “I’m within a department where I can see what the new developments are.

“At any stage I can have conversations with developers. It is important to fill in a lot of those gaps that sit between artist, landscape and construction. I can also spot where there are some of those gaps for public art with my colleagues as well.”

Anna said: “I am able to start advising what would be best for a specific development. What we are trying to do is deliver public art, not just in the city centre but also in the rest of the city.

“Really the overall goal is having public art within all of the city and also creating a link within all areas, creating areas of interest.”

She added: “It’s something I’ve always been passionate about, how we feel within common ground in the outdoor landscape, how you can get enriched by seeing some art and how you can create an intervention in the area.”

Anna is keen that people feel art is not something that’s confined to museums and galleries but should be in public spaces where everyone can enjoy it. “People don’t think they can visit museums or are not interested in that.

“It gives an opportunity for everyone to enjoy art and be able to feel inspired by it – to imagine, to dream. That’s creating that wellbeing for everyone.

Challenges

“It’s something I’ve always been intrigued by and something very powerful about public art within our society.”

Anna’s role involves bringing together developers with artists she feels they would work well with and help overcome challenges to deliver a project: “A good example is Well Meadow between the city centre and Kelham Island.” Well Meadow is a housing and regeneration development.

“I helped the developer getting on board with an artist that was able to interpret that place and deliver some art that really resonates to the place and the intention of the landscape architects,” Anna said.

Get a bespoke headline round-up, as well as breaking updates, when you sign up to The Star’s free emails

“The artist has to work within an environment, not separate to the properties. I help to create a supportive environment where the artist is really free to create within the constraints that each project has got, delivering something that will contribute to the community.”

One recent project that really celebrates its surroundings is sculptor Alex Chinneck’s Looping Boat. It is a life-size narrowboat called The Industry floating on the Tinsley and Sheffield Canal near Meadowhall that celebrates the history of Tinsley, Sheffield’s historic waterways and industrial heritage.

Alex also created Alphabetti Spaghetti, a knotted postbox that delighted many Sheffielders when it appeared in Norborough Road, Tinsley in 2019.

Investment

Anna believes that public art is an investment can create social value and something for the future. Where possible, it also involves the local community in its creation.

She often links up different artists to work together and says it’s fascinating to see how they can earn from each other.

One key project was creating the Covid Memorial in Balm Green next to Barkers Pool in the city centre, commemorating Sheffielders who died and the workers who got us through the pandemic. That involved different community groups to ensure that such a sensitive issue was properly represented.

When the memorial, made by sculptor George King, was first installed, it included ribbons that hung from the branches of the willow-like structure. They contained the thoughts and memories of different people in the city, including tributes to family members and friends they had lost.

The ribbons were created after workshops brought people together to express their feelings about the pandemic.

Anna said: “I keep receiving positive feedback about that. It’s been there since March 2023 and it’s been successful.

Inspired

“I haven’t heard anyone really complaining about it or not happy. People may feel really inspired by or admire an artwork or others they don’t.

“That’s the beauty of art that can inspire people in different ways, communicating to people in different ways. The aim is to deliver a variety of public art that can really talk to everyone – pleasing everyone is not possible.”

Anna is a Companion of the Guild of St George, an educational charity that promotes the legacy of Victorian art critic and philanthropist John Ruskin. He created the Ruskin Gallery in Sheffield to bring art and beauty to inspire working people, particularly those in the city’s metal trades.

The Ruskin Collection is today housed in the Ruskin Gallery in the Millennium Gallery. Anna said: “I joined the Guild because of the idea of what art can do, rather than what it’s worth, which is something that guides me in this role.”