Hear first-hand about their work and the sculpture, and take part in the collaborative artwork in the Crescent Arts Centre!

Limited spaces are available for the official launch at 2.30pm, but there are many other interesting activities taking place within the centre for everyone to enjoy from 3 – 7pm.

2.30pm - Official Launch with Marie-Louise Muir
Limited spaces available, please book here.

3pm & 4.30pm - Storytelling Workshop
with Victoria Gleason and Kathleen McGrath
Join explorer Beth Learner on a free ROBOTS>>>> story telling workshop! Be prepared for a magical journey of mythical adventures and tales that will take place in different locations around the Crescent Arts Centre.
8-11yrs  |  Free – limited spaces: please book here.

3.15pm to 7pm – Selected Exhibits

ROBOTS>>>> WORMWOOD @Skulduggery Exclusive preview for  show @ Skulduggery 24 September 2011.
Simon Mills Photography

Free activities and information: up-cycling, re-cycling, cycling re-cycling

• RAINSKIRTS See how it’s done: skirts made out of old tents
• Recycled China Cake Stand Demo
• Origami and Paper Decoration
• Belfast Puncture: upcycling bicycle parts: wallets, bags, belts made from tyres
• free bike check-up
• Instrument Making with the REALLY RUBBISH ORCHESTRA, 5.30pm Soundscapes in the Stairwell

And: Your chance to get creatively involved and contribute to a collaborative artwork celebrating the sculpture – the ROBOT WALL!

The highly successful refurbishment and extension of this diverse community arts centre resulted in the centre winning the Community Benefit category, being “Highly Commended” in the category of Building Conservation as well as winning the impressive “Project of the Year 2011” award at the ceremony in Lisburn on 17 May 2011.

As one of the Northern Ireland category winners, the Crescent Arts Centre will also go forward to the RICS Awards in London to compete against projects from across the UK and internationally in October 2011.

Chairman Dr David Hill paid tribute to all involved in the project, “The refurbishment of the Crescent Arts Centre has been an overwhelming success and would not have been possible without the substantial investment from our main capital funders Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure (DCAL), Arts Council of Northern Ireland (ACNI), Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA), Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) and two trusts Ulster Garden Villages and BIFFAwards along with the many donations from members of the public.

“The awards reflect the hard work of a great number of people, from the Design Team headed by Hamilton Architects, Gilbert Ash (Contractor), Kieran Mooney (Project Sponsor), Tom Kernaghan and Noel Mathers Project Managers (Edmond Shipway Construction Consultants) to the Crescent’s own Board, Management and staff.”

Roisin McDonough, Chief Executive, Arts Council of Northern Ireland, commented:

“We are delighted that the Crescent Arts Centre has received these prestigious awards, which recognise the contribution this superb venue makes to our cultural and economic life.

“The Arts Council invested £1.45 million in the new centre as part of a wider government strategy to bring venues here up to an international standard.  To be nominated for this award is testament to the efforts of all those involved in the Crescent Arts capital project and the team should be very proud. ”

Dr Keith Acheson, centre Manager stated “The success at this year’s RICS Awards, especially in the Community Benefit category perfectly highlights the ethos of the centre.  Opportunities at the Design Stage were given to the many user groups so that they could influence decisions. This tangible sense of ownership, we feel, has positively impacted upon visitor numbers, audiences, class enrolments and the many community groups, professional artists and businesses that use the space for concerts, rehearsals, meetings or even to just have a coffee!”

This year has been an incredible success for the centre, as it has won a total of 5 awards  that include a UNESCO “Man and the Built Environment” award and the William Keown Trust Prestige Award for Accessibility since its re-opening in April 2010.

The Festival will offer lunchtime and evening recitals, free taster workshops and guided tours of the building.

Events include a reading with Pulitzer Prize winning author and new patron of the Crescent Arts Centre Paul Muldoon, Bellydance, Puppetry, Figure Drawing or Lego workshops, an afternoon with Shakespeare and lots more workshops and performances by local and international artists.

The full programme is available to download as a PDF here, and a printed brochure is available from arts and community venues across Belfast.

Hope to see you there!

May – August 2010 Term

Our new term begins in May – you can download the programme now!

1 Cafe Expression of Interest

2 Cafe Servery Layout and Equipment Schedule

3 Cafe Ground Floor Plan

1 Gallery Expression of Interest

2 Gallery First Floor Plan

For further information please have a look at our Donations page or the Refurbishment news category.

The marathon takes place on the 4th May, 2009 and our team will be covering a combined 26 miles across the whole city, passing by the current Crescent building on the Ormeau Road on the final stretch to the finish line at Ormeau Park.

If you’d like to contribute to the team’s fundraising efforts, have a look at their sponsorship page on Justgiving. Also, please pass the address along to anyone you think might be interested:

http://www.justgiving.com/crescent-relay-team/

UPDATE 5th May 2009:

With a total time of 4:14:26, the Crescent Relay Team crossed the finish line in Ormeau Park, finishing 958th out of over 2,000 relay teams. In addition to that, they successfully beat their fundraising target of £1,000! Our thanks to everyone who donated to their campaign!

Crescent Relay Team with marathon certificates

No one knows when the first swift chose to nest in the roof of the Crescent Arts Centre building. However, we do know that some former 1940’s pupils of Victoria College, which occupied the building between 1874 and 1972, remember hearing swifts screaming round the building in the summer months.

These birds enjoy the company of their own kind and it is likely that as each year passed more and more birds were gradually attracted to the growing colony. Experts think that the Crescent Arts Centre now houses the largest remaining colony of the species in Northern Ireland (Between 20 to 50 pairs).

Thus the Crescent colony had built up probably over decades but if we were not careful during the refurbishment this wonderful natural spectacle could have been lost for all time from the building.

Fortunately everyone involved was determined not only to make sure that the building was faithfully restored but to try as much as possible to look after the needs of the swifts. Thus the various funders, the architects, the contractors, the project manager and experts on the species got together and worked out a plan. This was aimed at not only protecting the swifts during the actual work but securing their nest sites for future years and indeed providing new ones by building special “swift bricks” into the fabric of the new build.

Hopefully the work of this determined partnership will ensure that the marvelous spectacle of the swifts dashing flights as they scream around the building on fine summer days will inspire and be marveled at by generations to come.

One simple step that has already been taken has been to do most of the work on the roof when the swifts were away in Africa but we are now entering a critical stage of the project (May to August 09) when the swifts and the building workers will be working all summer long in close proximity! However we are all confidant that the most critical people at this stage, the contractors, understand and are sympathetic to the needs of the birds.

We are also confident that we will see the whole project through to a successful conclusion. If indeed we achieve this success it will certainly be a great example of what can be achieved by sectors working together.

If you’d like to contribute to the refurbishment project, you can sponsor a swift box on our donations page.

Gregory Campbell announcing the start of the refurbishment project at the Crescent Arts Centre

DCAL: Crescent Arts Centre refurbishment to get underway

Arts Minister Gregory Campbell today announced that capital funding totalling £4.5million has been awarded by the Department of Culture Arts and Leisure for the redevelopment of Belfast’s Crescent Arts Centre.

Rosemary Kelly speaking at the start of the refurbishment project

ACNI: Arts Council Helps protect and develop Crescent Art Centre

Culture, Arts and Leisure Minister, Gregory Campbell, MP MLA, today (1 September) announced the start of the Crescent Arts refurbishment project. The Arts Council of Northern Ireland is also funding this project, to the tune of £1,450,000, which will protect, strengthen and develop this iconic Belfast building and the local arts infrastructure.

Belfast Telegraph: Extra £2million for Crescent Arts Centre refurbishment

South Belfast’s Crescent Arts Centre is set to get a further £2million towards the redevelopment of its historic University Road building from the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure (DCAL), it has been revealed.

Watch this space for further information.

CAPITAL BUILDING REFURBISHMENT/EXTENSION PROJECT

This is a renewed advertisement for the post of CAPITAL FUNDRAISER for the above project

The person contracted will be responsible for developing and implementing the centre’s fundraising strategy and will achieve an agreed money-raising target (within a stipulated time frame) through a wide range of fundraising media (including trust, corporate, individual and major donor).

He/she will be accountable to the Crescent Arts Centre board of directors (fundraising committee) and the centre manager. Fundraising experience and a demonstrable track record of successful bid writing and monies raised is essential together with good financial acumen and sound business skills. Experience of fundraising in the charitable sector is desirable.

For further information, please apply, in the first instance to:

Liz Donnan, Manager,
Crescent Arts Centre,
165 Ormeau Road, Belfast BT7 1SQ

Telephone 028 9024 2338.