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On Thursday 5 th February 1970, Pink Floydplayed a concert in Cardiff as afundraiser for the Arts Centre Project; andin 1971, Chapter, a unique meeting placefor people and ideas opened in Canton.More than 36 years later, Chapter – oneof the most successful multi-disciplinaryarts organisations in the UK – isundergoing an ambitious £3.3 millionredevelopment project to bring itsfacilities into the 21 st century.

Every year Chapter….• presents over 2,000 events, screenings, exhibitions andperformances• welcomes over 500,000 visitors• programmes over 3,000 education and outreachworkshops• supports over 150 voluntary organisations

Chapter changes people’s lives….• by supporting creative organisations and artists providing ahome for many of Wales’ best-known and award winning namesin theatre, dance, music, art and animation including EarthfallDance, artist Pete Fowler, film director Ken Russell and actor RhysIfans.• by working with educational and community groups to engagedisadvantaged individuals fully in the arts. Groups include NABTASudanese dance and music group; Rainbow Project SouthWales; Wales Council for the Blind; South Wales InterculturalCommunity Arts; Patua Dance; and Monkey Music mother andbaby music group.• by promoting a long list of practitioners from film directors JustinKerrigan and Chris Monger; to Turner Prize-nominated artistsMona Hartoum and Cornelia Parker; to Oscar-nominatedanimators such as Joanna Quinn and Nick Park and actors suchas Willem Dafoe and former Monty Python Terry Jones.• by meeting the needs of the community in which it sits. We offerpioneering accessible cinema, special screenings for isolatedgroups, innovative workshops for visiting schoolchildren, sendworkshop leaders across south and west Wales and offer openspace for our many and diverse users

‘With this diverse range of users, [Chapter]are able to generate a correspondingwide range of public experiencesincluding belonging, self developmentand performance’People Make Places: Growing the public life of cities,Demos supported by the Joseph RowntreeFoundation, 2005

The need for change….• Capacity – over the last five years we have seen constantgrowth across all sectors of the organisation. This has putpressure on our cinema and theatre auditoria and on ourgallery and the public spaces serving them. Consultationhas indicated that there is a great demand for a furtherground floor well-lit space for workshops and events.• Access – all entrances need to be made more accessibleand visible. Heavy doors currently make access difficultyfor users with mobility issues and Cinema Two is currentlyonly accessible for wheelchair users through a separateentrance.• Sustainability – after 36 years of constant use many parts ofthe building are now in a poor state of repair and thespaces have outgrown visitor and artists’ expectations anddemand. The redevelopment will enable Chapter toremain at the forefront of culture in Wales.

Keeping up with the pace of change….

Chapter’s redevelopment project will:• dramatically improve the visitor experience through anambitious redevelopment of the concourse, café bararea, shop and box office. Public space will increase by40% and the new, longer servery will ensure that peopleare served quickly and have a good visitor experience.• provide better facilities to meet the needs of local,national and international artists, performers andfilmmakers;• offer a better cinema and theatre experience for thepeople of Cardiff. The scheme will create a new foyer andnew seating for the theatre and refurbish both cinemas,allowing audiences to enjoy the best world andindependent film in comfort, in a vibrant environment andwith the latest technology.

• provide full disabled access. The scheme, whichimproves the main entrances and the entrances to theCinema 2 and theatre will make all areas of the buildingcompletely accessible;• better and more accessible facilities will be offered toCardiff and South Wales’s community and voluntaryorganisations better. The project will refurbish existingspaces and introduce a new, fully-accessible space forworkshops, events and the presentation ofperformances.• make Chapter more visible through the addition of moreinviting and fully-accessible entrances to both the frontand rear of the building. A new large signage lightboxwill be installed at the front of the building and a highlyvisible and fully accessible box office will be built.

• improve Gallery and gallery shop moving the entranceto achieve higher visibility within the building. Thegallery shop will be re-housed and relocated to a morecommercially viable location.• increase visitor figures by an estimated 20% from500,000 to 600,000 visitors annually;• increase trading income, ensuring Chapter’ssustainability and enabling them to subsidise its artisticprogramme;• improve the building stock and landscape of the localeand make an enhanced contribution to a culturally-ledregeneration of one of the UK’s capital cities.

"Chapter is one of Europe's leading arts centres, and offers adiverse mixture of performance, visual arts, cinema andparticipation. It's also the home for many artists and artsorganisations.These imaginative plans will improve the experience of Chapterfor all of its many users, and the Arts Council of Wales isdelighted to have been able to support them with a Lotterycapital grant. We are really looking forward to seeing the workcompleted and with greater access to the same rich mix ofactivity in greatly enhanced surroundings."Peter Tyndall, Chief Executive,Arts Council of Wales

Thank you…..To all those who have given their support so far:The Gibbs Charitable Trust, Oakdale Trust, theFollett Trust and Designer, Angela Gidden MBE