Meet The Levy Payer: Aberdeen Arts Centre
A big birthday deserves a big celebration – which is why Aberdeen Arts Centre is busy planning not just a day, or a week, but a whole year of festivities to mark its upcoming 60th anniversary.
Amy Liptrott, the centre’s director since October 2022, tells us all about Aberdeen Arts Centre’s work today and what’s in store for its future as we put this thriving cultural hub centre stage.
Tell us about your business…
Aberdeen Arts Centre was converted from a church and opened in 1963 as a civic arts centre, one of a kind really in Scotland and the UK. It was led by the council until the late 1990s when the council had to pull their funding and a campaign was started to continue the work of the Arts Centre by the formidable Annie Inglis. She got 45,000 signatures to save the Arts Centre.
Castlegate Arts Ltd was then set up as a charity to continue the centre’s work and has been doing that ever since.
We have a lot going on… we have local organisations putting shows on in our 350-seater auditorium, which is a brilliant space. These shows range from dance to musicals to straight theatre. Coming up, for example, we have Leading Lights doing Chicago and Phoenix Theatre doing Scrooge. We also have visiting companies with things like rock band tributes, comedy acts and family shows. It’s a broad and varied offering.
We have a creative learning programme that encourages the young people of Aberdeen into creative pursuits, the flagship of which is Castlegate Theatre Company, which this year premiered a brand-new musical, which was a fantastic experience for them.
We also have a suite of rooms we can hire and support local organisations with value-for-money space.
What are the benefits to Aberdeen Arts Centre of being an Aberdeen Inspired levy payer?
The main benefit is the network Aberdeen Inspired provides. It’s really brilliant that at regular meetings I can meet other levy payers and hear about their concerns, their triumphs, their challenges and their successes. I think the idea of working as a team, with a team effort for the city centre, is good for all of us.
What are your plans for the next 12 months?
To keep doing what we are doing is number one, which is hiring our space to local groups and supporting their shows. We have our panto coming up, so it is exciting to again work with Talegate Theatre Company on Rapunzel – it’s a hair-raising adventure…!
In October, we celebrate our 60th anniversary. As 60th birthday parties have to be big, rather than just celebrate over a day or a week, we’re going to be celebrating over 12 months and start projects that will last until we are 61. So, on the week of 16th of October, look out for what’s happening here to start the celebrations.
As well, we are creating an artists’ development programme to support professional creatives in Aberdeen and that will grow in the next 12 months.
We are also looking at what we can do to produce our own work. That starts with a co-production with Pitlochry Festival Theatre of The Maggie Wall, a new play by Martin McCormick, inspired by a monument near Dunning to a woman tried and executed for witchcraft in the 17th century. That will come to our stage in October when it opens our newly refurbished Children’s Theatre. So, there is a lot going on.
What advice would you give to new businesses or ventures starting up in the city centre?
Come here and get to know the city centre first. Know what the layout is, go into the local coffee shops, go and see things happening in the gallery, look around and realise the city centre is a really vibrant place.
There’s something different happening here every day – tuning into that and recognising the community around here is supporting all of that is a really key thing.
What would be the biggest improvement to the city centre in your opinion?
In my opinion, it would be an outdoor performance space in the city centre. I know there are fantastic plans for an amphitheatre-style space at the beach, but I feel we need a place in the city centre where we can exhibit local art, can create sound installations or maybe light installations to respond to all the vibrant festivals that take place.
We could have a space like a bandstand where performances can happen, maybe down at Queen Street in between the three arts organisations – CityMoves, the Lemon Tree which is part of Aberdeen Performing Arts, and Aberdeen Arts Centre.
There is so much happening in terms of art in the city centre. Nuart is incredible, with all these works on buildings, I love the ABERDEEN letters, too, and the fact they will be fleet-of-foot, moving around the city. An open-air performance space would support all of that.
When you are not working what is your favourite place or thing to do in the city centre?
The Painted Gallery in Provost Skene’s House is my favourite space in the entire city. It is absolutely beautiful. When I need to find inspiration – on those rare occasions I can’t find it at Aberdeen Arts Centre – I just go and sit in that room for a few minutes. And then I pop into Mackie’s for ice cream because it’s just next door.
To find out more about Aberdeen Arts Centre, it’s upcoming shows and what it can offer, visit https://www.aberdeenartscentre...
Make sure to follow Aberdeen Arts Centre on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter @aberdeenartscentre for all the latest updates!
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