Warwick Arts Centre (WAC) celebrates its 50th anniversary this November with a programme honouring community creativity and its power to make change - from a showcase of protest songs curated by the legendary Pauline Black, to the hidden wonders of an ordinary shed. 
The venue’s director, Doreen Foster, spoke to What’s On about WAC’s past, present and future...

Warwick Arts Centre (WAC), located within the University of Warwick on the outskirts of Coventry, celebrates its 50th anniversary in November with a programme of events exploring protest and activism. 

The programme has been named Rebels With A Cause!, a title inspired by the venue’s heritage - as WAC’s director, Doreen Foster, explains. “It comes out of the fact that the university was a site for quite a bit of radical action back in the 1970s. Students were always on strike or protesting about something, but also there were actually academics here who were doing quite leading work, thinking differently about what teaching could and should look like.”

Part of Doreen’s role includes working with the programming team to ensure that the themes and ideas being explored each season are woven into every part of the schedule. “What we're trying to create is a space where you can come and make work, you can see work, and you can grow as a result of the experiences that you have here.”

The venue strives to provide arts-led space which offers anyone and everyone a place to meet - and these spaces aren’t only to be found within the building’s walls: “We're increasingly working in neighbourhoods, the intention being to develop our relationships and friendships with people who wouldn't normally come to us, so that eventually, over time, they'll become part of our family.”

There are plenty of reasons to visit Warwick Arts Centre. Part of the venue’s appeal is the broad range of events that are hosted across its galleries, foyers, and performance spaces. Some of the biggest names in comedy make regular appearances at the venue’s Butterworth Hall.

“A lot of students come here because they know that we have a music centre, so they can maintain their practice; they can join one of the music societies.” 
During Doreen’s tenure, the venue’s cinema has been transformed, meaning that a broader range of films can be screened. “When we reopened in 2020, we reopened with three new screens, which is amazing. We still do our independent, our foreign language films, but we've added to that the ability to show blockbusters.”

The venue’s 50th anniversary is also being celebrated with a wide-ranging programme that centres around community creativity. It all kicks off with the installation of an enormous quilt, designed by local artist Julia O'Connell with contributions from people in the community. 

Doreen explains that quilting has a rich history of rebellion: “Women who weren't able to say what they wanted to say - because of the way in which society treated them - used the quilt to do that. Enslaved people in America used quilts to actually write messages or to identify routes.

“There's something about that active rebellion, that bit of activism: ‘I might not have a voice, might not be able to speak the truth that I want to speak, but actually I can use my hands to do that just as effectively.’”

The 50th anniversary celebrations are book-ended by another community event: The People’s Programme Day, on Saturday 30 November - a total takeover of the public spaces by the venue’s associate community groups and organisations. “What I'm hoping is that people will work together to curate creative activities that they want to see… We're not going to be imposing our artistic taste on any of that. We'll provide the support and the technicians - but it will be a day totally designed by residents and local organisations.”

For the duration of the programme, the foyer will contain an unexpected statement piece: The Shed. “November is men's mental health awareness month. It occurred to us that, actually, the shed - I'm not a man, so I don't know what men talk about in sheds - but the shed is a space where a lot of quite radical ideas might be formed.” 

The Shed will be built by Warwick Arts Centre’s carpenter, Philip Roe, in collaboration with It Takes Balls To Talk. This is a local campaign, founded to encourage people - particularly men and people who care about them - to talk about how they feel. The Shed will be host to talks and activities throughout the month, as Doreen explains: “It's quite a radical act to support someone to speak, to say something that they may not be comfortable saying elsewhere.”

Music also plays an important role in the Rebels With A Cause! programme. On Sunday 27 October the venue has commissioned Songs Of Protest, a female-led night of music and words on that theme. The event will be curated and led by local legend Pauline Black - frontwoman of The Selecter - alongside The Staves, Bess Attwell and Grace Petrie.

At the other end of the season is Songs For A New World, a concert of three works performed by the University of Warwick Symphony Orchestra & Chorus, on Sunday 1 December. “We've got a new classical music commission by a composer called Bobbie Jane-Gardner. She's from Birmingham, and she's making a piece called The Burning House. It's a new piece for the climate emergency.”

Warwick Arts Centre’s 50th birthday celebrations give a nod to its rich and innovative history - but what does Doreen hope for in terms of the venue’s future?
“What I'd like to see is even more different people coming into the Arts Centre. That would be a massive achievement - a testament to the work that we're doing at the moment across all our programming.

“We're interested in finding a way, through the programme, of creating space for everyone who feels that they want to make a change... Rebels With A Cause! is about saying ‘Actually, if you want to change something, you have the power to change that thing.’”

Feature by Jessica Clixby

Rebels With A Cause! takes place at Warwick Arts Centre, Coventry, throughout the autumn season. 
For information an all upcoming events visit warwickartscentre.co.uk