Artists
Sally Hirst
A talented illustrator, textile artist and ceramicist. Much of her work is inspired by themes of climate change and her love of animals.
Sally Hirst
Warped
Sally Hirst
Warped
Sally Hirst
Warped
Sally Hirst
Sally Hirst
Sally Hirst
Looking at the Sun
Sally Hirst
Starry Night Weave
Sally Hirst
Me Inspired by Picasso
Sally Hirst is a highly accomplished artist at Venture Arts and in 2023 won Young Creative of the Year at the Manchester Culture Awards.
Since she began attending our Young People’s Art Club in 2017 she has had several commissions for her illustrative work, and taken part in professional artist residencies at HOME and Walk the Plank. In 2025 she delivered her first solo exhibition, Warped, at Helmshore Mill as part of the British Textile Biennial, in which she explored and shared the story of disabled mill workers.
Sally works with illustration, poetry, sound and textiles. She is a socially engaged artist with much of her work being inspired by the people around her. Sally has exhibited at the Lowry, People’s History Museum, HOME and The Whitworth, where in 2023 she first became artist in residence as part of their School of Creativity. In 2024 the work she produced during her residency was exhibited as part of The Whitworth’s Everyday Art School and the residency continued throughout 2025.
Accessibility is at the heart of everything Sally creates and she has developed her own unique style of poetic audio description, which she has been commissioned to produce for various exhibitions. You can listen to some examples from the Abundance exhibition here:
Sally Hirst's exhibitions and events
- British Textile Biennial 2025 2nd Nov 2025
- MIF Artist Talk – Neurodiversity, Disability and the Artworld Today 11th Jul 2025
- Belonging in Wild Takeover (for Neurodiversity Week) 19th Mar 2025
- Abundance | London 2nd Mar 2024
- TATE LATE | The Hand That Makes The Sound 15th Sep 2023
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The Future is Ours
The Horsfall, online,
2022. -
Last Place On Earth
HOME, online,
2020. -
The Art of Now
The Lowry,
2019.
My art is sometimes about climate change or animals and the story behind each animal as an individual. Sometimes my work is just about the process, it doesn’t actually have a meaning but is just nice and relaxing to do, an example of this is my weaving.
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Calendar
2025
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Zines
2025
Commissions
We are delighted when people want to commission work from us and our artists. This can either be as a group project or an individual artist creating one of their unique pieces for you.
To find out more and to arrange a studio visit please contact Katherine Long on 0161 232 1223 or email katherine@venturearts.org
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