THEATRE, arts and more look set to continue at Artrix as talks take place between the venue’s holding trust, the district council and Bromsgrove Community Arts which has been running it since earlier this year.
Members of the three organisations are hopeful an agreement will soon be reached for the venue to remain open for the next three years and beyond.
Artrix Holding Trust Chair, Anita Dale, said: “We are keen to reassure residents and supporters that we are working behind the scenes to ensure Artrix continues to be apart of our community’s long-term arts and culture provision.
“We look forward to making an official announcement very soon.”
Successful shows
Bromsgrove Community Arts has been successfully operating the venue though a team of volunteers since the previous agreement was signed.
During that time, there has been plenty of live shows and concerts gracing the School Drive venue’s stage, along with exhibitions and other events.
BCA’s forward plan will see the venue continue, if it gets the green light from the Artrix Holding Trust and Bromsgrove District Council.
Chair of BCA, Graham Mackenzie said: “BCA has been running Artrix on a sustainable volunteer led basis since April to great success, and has a full programme of shows and events planned through to the end of the year.
“BCA is incredibly keen to continue to offer a full programme of shows and room hires at Artrix for the Bromsgrove community next year and for the foreseeable future.
“We are working hard with the Artrix Holding Trust and Bromsgrove Council to make our plans a reality.”
Artrix will shortly be confirming bookings for a wide variety of shows and performances for the first half of 2025 and the new programme will be launched on the website artrixbromsgrove.co.uk in the coming weeks.
Closure and resurrection
Artrix closed its doors during the pandemic – just weeks before the government announced support for theatres and art venues – due to financial difficulties.
It was repurposed and used as a vaccination centre during the Covid 19 crisis but the community and arts organisations were desperate to see it returned to its original role as the town’s main arts centre.
Then last year, The Core theatre in Solihull was forced to close its main auditorium following the discovery of RAAC concrete. A deal was struck up between bosses at the Core and the Artrix Holding Trust which enabled the Solihull theatre groups and others due to use the main auditorium there to transfer their shows and events to Artrix.
It enabled all the work needed to restore it to its former glory to be carried out much sooner than it possibly would have been. The Core held its shows at Artrix and then relinquished control. It was then Bromsgrove Community Arts was formed and a deal was struck for it to run the venue, initially for a year. That was due to come to an end at the end of this year. The talks taking place now are aimed at extending that agreement for another three years.
