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Mac (Birmingham)
Encyclopedia
mac is a non-profit arts centre
situated in Cannon Hill Park
, Edgbaston
, Birmingham
, England
. It was established in 1962 and is registered as an educational charity
which host plays
, concert
s and films shows
; and holds art
exhibitions, music classes, and workshops for all ages.
The centre re-opened in May 2010 after a £15m facelift. It has four performance auditoria, rehearsal and media studios, a cinema and art gallery.
was made available by Birmingham City Council in 1962 for this purpose. It also housed the Cannon Hill Puppet Theatre under John M. Blundall.
In 1965 director Mike Leigh
went to work at the theatre and had the opportunity to start experimenting with the idea that writing and rehearsing could potentially be part of the same process. Between 1972 and 1987 it was the home of the Birmingham Youth Theatre
, a company aimed at encouraging and nurturing talent amongst people aged 15 to 23 in the wider community. This company was founded by local teacher Derek Nicholls, who later became Director of the MAC. Success stories from the youth theatre include Adrian Lester
and Andrew Tiernan
.
The centre closed in April 2008 for a £14.8 million refurbishment. It reopened on 1 May 2010 with a weekend of events and activities to reintroduce people to the new and newly refurbished spaces.
The development has increased the public areas by 40 per cent, simplifying navigation around and between spaces while maintaining a human scale and elements of the character and eccentricity for which mac is renowned.
The centre had grown in many stages since the early 1960s, creating a warren of small spaces with constant changes of level that fell far short of modern standards of accessibility, presenting the architects with a major problem.
The basic design solution was to create a new central ‘box’ to pull together the disparate elements that were being retained and create significant new spaces, including two new rehearsal studios in a formerly unused roof space. The apparent simplicity of this solution masked the major challenge of connecting the various first floor levels by introducing an imperceptible lateral slope.
Sources of inspiration include mac’s natural setting and its ground-breaking creative engagement with Birmingham’s communities. mac is located in Cannon Hill Park, one of the largest and most popular of Birmingham’s public parks, 1.5 miles south of the city centre, a close neighbour of Warwickshire County Cricket ground and readily accessible from the new mixed development at Edgbaston Mill. Extensive glazing at all levels in the foyer areas brings the park into the building, with the re-landscaped terrace at ground level creating a physical connection between mac and its environment. Internally and externally the building is finished in a range of materials, including steel, slate, wood and stone, designed to weather and change appearance organically over time.
Internally, the wood panelling in the café, stone work and carpeting in the foyers is all part of a major creative project led by artist Myfanwy Johns and incorporating designs from the women of the Bosnian Cultural Centre Midlands. The carpet provides a vibrant ribbon of colour running through the muted natural tones of the other materials.
A new covered bridge across the River Rea forms the main entrance to the building, leading into the extensive open and light space of the ground floor foyer, housing sales and information points, a new café bar - with a major sculptural commission by artist Laura Johnston - and galleries leading through to a smaller bar area.
Adjacent to the new Bridges café bar, the Hexagon remains the most architecturally distinctive element to survive from the 1960s. Previously an almost freestanding structure it has been largely enclosed by the new development. This part of the building contains the refurbished Hexagon Theatre and the Bryant Suite meeting rooms (named for long-standing supporters of mac), whose wood and glass construction allows tremendous views across the park.
Another new bridge connects the upper level of the Hexagon to the first floor foyer, giving access both to mac’s substantial new exhibition gallery, which will be one of the largest contemporary art spaces in the West Midlands, and its larger Theatre, which has been stripped, re-equipped and linked to a new audio-visual media suite enabling remote recording of live events
In addition to the new spaces, pre-existing visual arts and performance studios have all been refurbished and other areas converted to create meeting rooms, which like many of mac's facilities will be available for hire. All levels are now connected by lifts.
A future aspiration is to build a new medium-scale auditorium on the present site of the outdoor Arena, thus fulfilling the original vision of mac's founders, John English and Alicia Randle. The building has been designed to make a simple connection with this new addition if and when funding becomes available.
Arts centre
An art centre or arts center is distinct from an art gallery or art museum. An arts centre is a functional community centre with a specific remit to encourage arts practice and to provide facilities such as theatre space, gallery space, venues for musical performance, workshop areas, educational...
situated in Cannon Hill Park
Cannon Hill Park
Cannon Hill Park is a park located in south Birmingham, England. It is the most popular park in the city, covering consisting of formal, conservation, woodland and sports areas...
, Edgbaston
Edgbaston
Edgbaston is an area in the city of Birmingham in England. It is also a formal district, managed by its own district committee. The constituency includes the smaller Edgbaston ward and the wards of Bartley Green, Harborne and Quinton....
, Birmingham
Birmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. It was established in 1962 and is registered as an educational charity
Charitable organization
A charitable organization is a type of non-profit organization . It differs from other types of NPOs in that it centers on philanthropic goals A charitable organization is a type of non-profit organization (NPO). It differs from other types of NPOs in that it centers on philanthropic goals A...
which host plays
Play (theatre)
A play is a form of literature written by a playwright, usually consisting of scripted dialogue between characters, intended for theatrical performance rather than just reading. There are rare dramatists, notably George Bernard Shaw, who have had little preference whether their plays were performed...
, concert
Concert
A concert is a live performance before an audience. The performance may be by a single musician, sometimes then called a recital, or by a musical ensemble, such as an orchestra, a choir, or a musical band...
s and films shows
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
; and holds art
Art
Art is the product or process of deliberately arranging items in a way that influences and affects one or more of the senses, emotions, and intellect....
exhibitions, music classes, and workshops for all ages.
The centre re-opened in May 2010 after a £15m facelift. It has four performance auditoria, rehearsal and media studios, a cinema and art gallery.
History
The idea for an arts centre in Cannon Hill Park was the result of a meeting between local residents Mollie Randle, her husband, theatre writer and director John English and local politician Frank Price in the late 1950s. Eventually 8.6 acres of land in Cannon Hill ParkCannon Hill Park
Cannon Hill Park is a park located in south Birmingham, England. It is the most popular park in the city, covering consisting of formal, conservation, woodland and sports areas...
was made available by Birmingham City Council in 1962 for this purpose. It also housed the Cannon Hill Puppet Theatre under John M. Blundall.
In 1965 director Mike Leigh
Mike Leigh
Michael "Mike" Leigh, OBE is a British writer and director of film and theatre. He studied theatre at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, and studied further at the Camberwell School of Art and the Central School of Art and Design. He began as a theatre director and playwright in the mid 1960s...
went to work at the theatre and had the opportunity to start experimenting with the idea that writing and rehearsing could potentially be part of the same process. Between 1972 and 1987 it was the home of the Birmingham Youth Theatre
Birmingham Youth Theatre
The Birmingham Youth Theatre was founded in 1971 in Birmingham, England by local teachers Derek Nicholls and Ray Speakman, and was based at the Midlands Arts Centre and Birmingham Repertory Theatre...
, a company aimed at encouraging and nurturing talent amongst people aged 15 to 23 in the wider community. This company was founded by local teacher Derek Nicholls, who later became Director of the MAC. Success stories from the youth theatre include Adrian Lester
Adrian Lester
-Personal life:Lester was born in Birmingham, England, the son of Jamaican immigrants Monica, a medical secretary, and Reginald, a manager for a contract cleaning company. He sang as a boy treble in the choir of St. Chad's Cathedral, Birmingham...
and Andrew Tiernan
Andrew Tiernan
Andrew James Tiernan is an English actor.-Theatre:Tiernan began acting with the Birmingham Youth Theatre and moved to London in 1984 to study a three-year Diploma in Acting at the Drama Centre London run by Christopher Fettes and Yat Malmgren...
.
The centre closed in April 2008 for a £14.8 million refurbishment. It reopened on 1 May 2010 with a weekend of events and activities to reintroduce people to the new and newly refurbished spaces.
Building
mac has been transformed into a spacious and fully accessible cultural complex, impressively equipped to redefine the expectations and opportunities of an arts centre for the 21st century.The development has increased the public areas by 40 per cent, simplifying navigation around and between spaces while maintaining a human scale and elements of the character and eccentricity for which mac is renowned.
The centre had grown in many stages since the early 1960s, creating a warren of small spaces with constant changes of level that fell far short of modern standards of accessibility, presenting the architects with a major problem.
The basic design solution was to create a new central ‘box’ to pull together the disparate elements that were being retained and create significant new spaces, including two new rehearsal studios in a formerly unused roof space. The apparent simplicity of this solution masked the major challenge of connecting the various first floor levels by introducing an imperceptible lateral slope.
Sources of inspiration include mac’s natural setting and its ground-breaking creative engagement with Birmingham’s communities. mac is located in Cannon Hill Park, one of the largest and most popular of Birmingham’s public parks, 1.5 miles south of the city centre, a close neighbour of Warwickshire County Cricket ground and readily accessible from the new mixed development at Edgbaston Mill. Extensive glazing at all levels in the foyer areas brings the park into the building, with the re-landscaped terrace at ground level creating a physical connection between mac and its environment. Internally and externally the building is finished in a range of materials, including steel, slate, wood and stone, designed to weather and change appearance organically over time.
Internally, the wood panelling in the café, stone work and carpeting in the foyers is all part of a major creative project led by artist Myfanwy Johns and incorporating designs from the women of the Bosnian Cultural Centre Midlands. The carpet provides a vibrant ribbon of colour running through the muted natural tones of the other materials.
A new covered bridge across the River Rea forms the main entrance to the building, leading into the extensive open and light space of the ground floor foyer, housing sales and information points, a new café bar - with a major sculptural commission by artist Laura Johnston - and galleries leading through to a smaller bar area.
Adjacent to the new Bridges café bar, the Hexagon remains the most architecturally distinctive element to survive from the 1960s. Previously an almost freestanding structure it has been largely enclosed by the new development. This part of the building contains the refurbished Hexagon Theatre and the Bryant Suite meeting rooms (named for long-standing supporters of mac), whose wood and glass construction allows tremendous views across the park.
Another new bridge connects the upper level of the Hexagon to the first floor foyer, giving access both to mac’s substantial new exhibition gallery, which will be one of the largest contemporary art spaces in the West Midlands, and its larger Theatre, which has been stripped, re-equipped and linked to a new audio-visual media suite enabling remote recording of live events
In addition to the new spaces, pre-existing visual arts and performance studios have all been refurbished and other areas converted to create meeting rooms, which like many of mac's facilities will be available for hire. All levels are now connected by lifts.
A future aspiration is to build a new medium-scale auditorium on the present site of the outdoor Arena, thus fulfilling the original vision of mac's founders, John English and Alicia Randle. The building has been designed to make a simple connection with this new addition if and when funding becomes available.