S.H.E.D (the Social Higher Education Depot) is a flatpack, pop up and mobile arts venue & public space, designed for the facilitation of conversation. It has been designed for the shedding of preconceptions of people and place.
This humble ‘garden shed’ can be transformed into a variety of bespoke environments, from a soup kitchen and library, to a performance space, a visual arts gallery or for private hire events. It currently has 12 rubric configurations to instigate bespoke co-creative environments with others in order to deliver strategically designed activities. The opportunities for its configuration are endless and our project partners are consistently adding new designs to the drawing board.
S.H.E.D is also a vehicle for discovery and development. It has been designed in line with cultural and socio-civic research, its flexibility enables it to deliver strategically designed activities, while also providing an accessible and inclusive space that supports the needs and priorities of communities.
At the heart of the project is the desire to create positive civic impact, working towards greater social mobility by providing opportunities to access inspirational and educational content outside of formal organisational structures. The wide-reaching benefits of S.H.E.D are already being realised throughout the East Midlands, and further afield.
S.H.E.D was born (with thanks to Sherwood Sheds!) in 2019 and we incorporated as a Community Interest Company in 2020. Since 2019, we’ve developed opportunities for over 700 creatives and 500 young people, we’ve showcased over 50 new works, engaging over a dozen schools and reaching in excess of 20,000 members of the public. We were shortlisted for Shed of the Year in 2020, a Green Gown 2020 finalist in their Benefitting Society category, and an Alliance Awards 2022 finalist.
S.H.E.D in 3 minutes…
Or if you have a bit longer…
Find out more about the team behind S.H.E.D on our meet the team page
