To celebrate the 21st birthday of what has become a Sheffield institution, one lucky punter through the door on each day (Friday, Saturday and Sunday) will receive a complimentary bottle.

Started and staffed solely by volunteers on a shoestring budget, the show now regularly exhibits around 1500 piece of art work, from around 600 artists, attracts around 6,000 visitors over its three and a half days.

It takes place at Sheffield University's Octagon Centre and runs from the 11-13 July, kicking off with a Preview Evening on Thursday.

Tickets for this cost £6 which includes complimentary wine or soft drinks, the chance to view and purchase artwork in advance and mix with the show's sponsors, traders and artists.

Tickets for the show itself cost £4.50 for adults; £4 for concessions, with accompanied children under 16 admitted free.

The winner of the public vote at last year's Great Sheffield Art Show, Sophie Wilson, is back again this year with more of her 3-D art.

The 20-year-old captured the public's admiration for her determination to keep up her despite the fact that she is gradually losing her sight.

"I have been hearing impaired since birth and just before my 18th birthday I was told I had Usher's Syndrome which means I have a sight condition called Retinitis Pigmentosa, causing me to have tunnel vision that eventually leads to blindness.

"I still want to travel and make the most of my sight as long as I can. I feel I must intensify the pace of my life to get the most from it.

"Current breakthroughs in the field of genetic therapy for people with similar conditions have made me hopeful. I do believe in making things happen for myself and I am pushing forward."

The former King Edward VII pupil started a degree at Sheffield Hallam University.

"The shock of finding out about my eyesight made me decide to take a year out to reflect," she reports.

"I now have a new job as an occupational therapy assistant and still work part-time at Morrisons. Life is busy but my art is important to me so I hope people respond to it."

Proving it's possible to cross the divide between art and science is Guy de Bruxelles.

"My previous life as a scientist revolved around tomatoes and test tubes and is about as far removed from an easel as it's possible to be," he submits.

"I have always enjoyed using my hands and as a teenager was fascinated by models which I have returned to periodically through my adult life.

I wonder how many other painters discovered a previously unknown talent for slapping paint on to paper while building model motorcycles.

"Having found that I could make a tiny plastic model look exactly likea miniature of the real thing, I decided to see if I could produce something on paper.

"Every picture I've attempted has presented me with new and more complex problems and I think that half of my enjoyment comes from surmounting these hurdles.

"Over the past year I've been painting places that mean something special to me and the goal of the work is to see if I can convey this specialness to the people who see."

The widely-travelled artist, who was born in Sussex, grew up in Jersey and travelled to Asia and Australia where he went to university in Perth, has a particular affinity for Greece and the Mediterranean.

"I love the vibrant colours and architecture of Greece and have chosen to paint several Mediterranean landscapes."

Around 20 years ago Stephen Balderson turned down a place at art school to train as a butcher.

"Boy, was I smart back then?" he grimaces. "From butcher to baker, then HGV driver (not candlestick maker), my arty side drifted into the past.

"That was until last year when I decided to draw the end of Chapel Walk as an anniversary gift for my in-laws. It was the place where the proposal took place."

That set him off and he has spent the past eight months drawing pictures of old Sheffield buildings – "thousands of bricks, hundreds of windows and who knows how many chimney pots".

"I love the bricks, it has become so therapeutic just drawing brick after brick. Not the new ones you see about these days but the bright red bricks from years gone by, only they weren't red for long.

"They soon became dirty, giving us the scenes that are all too quickly forgotten but fondly remembered when we see them again.

"That is what I try to do," he continues. "I try to give my pictures a sense of feeling and warmth.

"I want people to look at my work and drift back to the days when they were young, to feel good inside and if they appreciate the standard of work, then great, but I get more pleasure when someone turns to me after looking at a piece and says, 'I remember running down that street' or 'I bought sweets from that shop when I was a child'."