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The Ariel Centre today

The Ariel Centre King Edward VI Community College Ashburton Road Totnes Devon TQ9 5JX   telephone: 01803 869200 email: ariel@arielcentre.org.uk

The Ariel Centre is a flexible, multi-use performing and visual arts facility. The Centre comprises: • A beautiful "white box" gallery space and foyer area • A theatre which can accommodate just over 300 people with flexible seating configurations • A dance/drama studio with a sprung floor and working space of 66 square metres • Music practice rooms and recording studio • A variety of other medium-sized workshop areas.
The Ariel Centre is in use every day by the students of the college, and in the evenings by the Community Education team who use the Centre for a wide range of Arts activities. In 2003 the College was awarded Specialist Arts College status with an emphasis on the performing arts. This new stream of investment has enabled the College to embark on a number of exciting projects that have enabled us to enhance the Ariel Centre programme. High quality professional theatre, dance and music groups now visit the centre on a regular basis, providing workshops for students and performances for the whole community.
Arts status funding has also provided investment in the staffing and technical infrastructure necessary to expand the Centre's activity. This has also facilitated partnerships with other local Arts providers. notably Harberton Folk who have presented events in the Theatre in association with the KEVICC Parents' Association.
Dartington Plus is a partnership between The Dartington Hall Trust (encompassing The Arts at Dartington and Dartington International Summer School), Dartington College of Arts, and King Edward VI Community College in Totnes.   Dartington+ has been awarded Arts Council England funding as one of three internationally significant centres of creative excellence in Music, the other two being Sage Gateshead and Aldeburgh.   On Saturday mornings during the college terms SaMS, our highly successful 'music school', is based at the Ariel Centre, and Totnes School of Dance runs on the KEVICC site, offering a full range of classes for dancers from age 18 months to adult with levels from beginner to advanced. Totnes Young Peoples' Theatre rehearse on the KEVICC site, as do local choir Global Harmony.   There is a large range of Education projects which benefits partner schools – twelve local learning Community primary schools, and St James's School in Exeter. Use this link to read more about the Arts College Programme.

How to find us

The Ariel Centre is on the King Edward VI College campus in Totnes. The entrance is just before the red footbridge as you enter Totnes from Exeter on the A384. It is five minutes' walk from the mainline railway station.

Accessibility

History

The Ariel Centre is one of the more recent additions to the college and has been at the heart of the relationship between the school and the community since 1996.   A committee was established to raise funds for this ambitious scheme. Architect Peter Sutton developed the plans for the imaginative building that we see today.
Funding came from a variety of sources, including the National Foundation for Sport and the Arts and the European Union, and nearly three-quarters of a million pounds was raised to fund the development. The fund raising and building programme were overseen by the Ariel Trust, which is a registered charity. The Ariel Centre Management Committee, which comprises members of the College and the community, organized the day to day running of the facility. Since the granting of Arts Status, the Committee has focused on a role of monitoring and evaluation.

Contact

 

 

© 2010 Ariel Centre

This page was last updated on 26/02/10.

In the event of any query, please email; webmaster@arielcentre.org.uk.