Aberdeen Arts Centre’s Uncertain Future Should Worry Everyone in the City
Public funding keeps our stories, voices and spaces alive across the city every day.
Walk into Aberdeen Arts Centre and you’ll find roots that run deep. Local voices. Young performers. Stories that speak in our own accents. But if public support disappears, so do the spaces where those stories live. The Centre is more than a building. It’s where the community takes the stage.
Last week, Aberdeen City Council chose not to provide emergency funding to keep the Arts Centre open. Castlegate Arts, the charity that has run the venue for 26 years, is now at serious risk. Despite overwhelming public support and a clear plan for long-term sustainability, the Centre has been left without the help it urgently needs.
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Not just another business
There’s less public money to go around. That’s true. But that’s exactly why we need to think carefully about what we protect. Arts venues are not traditional businesses. They are not meant to turn a profit. They exist to give something back: connection, expression, access, memory. They create the space for people to come together, learn something new or feel something deeply.
The Arts Centre isn’t a luxury. It’s a platform. If it closes, Aberdeen loses a place where the city’s stories get told. We risk becoming a place where only the most commercial voices are heard, and where our local languages, places and histories are left behind.
A mirror of the city
Sharon Catchpole, interim executive director of Castlegate Arts, puts it plainly: “It is not ticket sales that are the issue. It is widely recognised that the arts sector, especially the grassroots arts sector, relies on subsidies to provide affordable, accessible opportunities for everyone.”
More than 35 local performing groups use the space regularly. Most of them sell out. But they rely on an affordable venue to do it. The Arts Centre also supports youth theatre, outreach programmes and visiting work from elsewhere in Scotland. The value it brings isn’t captured in financial reports. It’s in the experiences of those who use it.
What happens when we let go
We’ve seen what happens when public arts spaces go unsupported. The closure of Belmont Cinema left a hole in Aberdeen’s cultural life that is still being felt. Its staff and regular audiences didn’t simply move elsewhere. They vanished. Reopening is taking a massive community effort, and the outcome, while hopeful, is still uncertain.
Once a venue closes, reopening is not just difficult. It is rare. And when a flagship venue like Aberdeen Arts Centre is left to struggle, it sets a precedent. If this place isn’t worth saving, what chance does any smaller group or venue have?
The bigger picture
Publicly funded arts aren’t about nostalgia. They are about making sure Aberdeen is a place where culture feels local, not imported. Where young people can see themselves on stage or screen. Where language, identity and place are part of the creative conversation.
These spaces make Aberdeen somewhere people want to stay, or return to, or invest in. They support jobs. They build skills. They create a sense of belonging. And they allow us to imagine better versions of ourselves and our city.
What comes next
The Save Aberdeen Arts Centre campaign has raised more than £90,000. A new team is in place, and a more sustainable plan is being put into action. But none of that can happen overnight. It needs time, and it needs serious local support.
Catchpole said it clearly: “Together, let’s keep the spotlight shining on your creative community.” That spotlight should reach beyond the stage. It belongs in council chambers too. Because what we choose to fund reveals what we value. And if we stop funding the arts, we stop funding the future.
Let’s not lose the places where Aberdeen sees itself. Let’s not turn the lights off on our own stories. Let’s fight for the future of the arts in Aberdeen. Check out the campaign to Save Aberdeen Arts Centre and get involved.
