Aberdeen Arts Centre is a theatre and

arts centre An art centre or arts center is distinct from an art gallery or art museum. An arts centre is a functional community centre with a specific remit to encourage arts practice and to provide facilities such as theatre space, gallery space, venues fo ...

on King Street in

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

with a 350-seater auditorium. It is a Category A

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

. The building was originally the North Parish Church. The church was converted to an Arts Centre in 1963. By December of that year the Attic Theatre Company were presenting McWhittington, a pantomime over Christmas and New Year. As a successor to previous groups such as Aberdeen Children's Theatre established by Catherine Hollingworth, and ACT Aberdeen, Castlegate Arts Limited which operates Aberdeen Arts Centre has charitable status. The centre is a community-focused arts venue, which aims to provide facilities and opportunities for individuals of all ages, backgrounds and abilities to engage in the performing arts. The theatre is on two levels, with an upper and a lower gallery for audiences. There is a small orchestra pit and behind the stage there are dressing and rehearsal rooms for the shows and other projects such as local drama groups. In addition the theatre has a large participatory arts programme. The centre is home to Castlegate Theatre Company (formally established by Annie Inglis), an award-winning youth group for teenagers which focuses on devised theatre. It hosts classes for writers and illustrators, Drama classes, led by

Sheena Blackhall Sheena Blackhall is a Scottish poet, novelist, short story writer, illustrator, traditional story teller and singer. Author of over 180 poetry pamphlets, 15 short story collections, 4 novels and 2 televised plays for children, The Nicht Bus and ...

, Julie Hutton and Barry Donaldson. It hosts touring drama and musical productions and the annual Granite Noir crime writing festival. In addition Aberdeen Arts Centre puts on a summer festival known in Aberdeen as 'The Arts Carnival'. The building also houses an exhibition area which hosts local and visiting art shows. Since 2007 it has hosted an

artist in residence Artist-in-residence, or artist residencies, encompass a wide spectrum of artistic programs which involve a collaboration between artists and hosting organisations, institutions, or communities. They are programs which provide artists with space a ...

programme at the arts centre. The first artist was Will Teather.

Fight to save Aberdeen Arts Centre

A successful campaign was led by Annie Inglis to save the Aberdeen Arts Centre from closure in 1998. Aberdeen City Council, as part of a bid to save £17.5m from its annual budget, had decided to cut funding for the centre to save £167,000 annually. In March 1998, while recovering in hospital from an asthma attack, Annie had coordinated a 14,500-signature petition to save the centre. This was presented, wrapped in red ribbon to

Aberdeen City Council gd, Comhairle Cathair Obar Dheathain , native_name_lang = , other_name = , image_skyline = Town House, Municipal Offices and Court Houses in Aberdeen.jpg , image_caption ...

leader, Margaret Smith. By June 1998 it was announced that an agreement had been reached between the city council and campaigners who were given until September to form a limited company and to sign a lease with the council as landlords. This was then extended by 10 weeks to allow them to meet a fundraising target of £60,000. Castlegate Arts Limited was set up on 25 January 1999. This is a volunteer led charity which continues to run the centre.

References

External links

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Gazetter on the Arts Centre
Theatres in Aberdeen Culture in Aberdeen Buildings and structures in Aberdeen Arts centres in Scotland Art museums and galleries in Aberdeen Tourist attractions in Aberdeen Category A listed buildings in Aberdeen {{Scotland-struct-stub