Chapter Arts Centre

Local artists, Christine Kinsey and Bryan Jones along with journalist Mik Flood first discussed the idea of setting up an Arts Centre for Wales late in 1968. Within two years, classrooms in the former Edwardian red-brick Canton High School were converted into a gallery, the school hall had become a theatre for companies such as Moving Being, Cardiff Laboratory Theatre and Paupers Carnival, and the Cardiff Cine Society had converted a cloakroom into a small cinema space. Two new entrances were created following a major redevelopment in October 2009, one opening off a new paved piazza to the south and the second to the car park on the north by way of a new partially covered courtyard space with external seating. Public areas including foyers, box office, cinemas, gallery and first floor theatre were remodelled and a cafe now occupies most of the ground floor. Two painted columns in the cafe previously hidden by I-sections and the glazed caramel-brown dado tilework which for years was smothered with a gloss of white paint, were revealed. A light box was added above the main entrance to host changing art works. The changes proved popular and visitor numbers doubled. There is now a 120 seat capacity theatre, two rehearsal studios, two cinema spaces, a visual arts gallery, two dance studios, five meeting rooms and space for 32 creative businesses. In November 2014, Cardiff City Council discussed extending the lease to 125 years on a peppercorn rent to allow Chapter to undertake a major development with Chapter Capital Alliance consortium partners Cardiff University and three resident companies. Funding has been committed from the Arts Council of Wales for the initial feasibility phase to explore options for new galleries, cinemas, performance and rehearsal studios, learning spaces and a research and innovation hub.