“We have really enjoyed using St Mary's for our concerts. It fits the bill on so many levels, offering great acoustics, plenty of flexibility of presentation and a central location - with plenty of nearby parking. We're very excited to see its use develop and I'm sure our audiences feel the same!”
Will Shaw, Chairman - Chester Operatic Society
The St Mary’s Creative Space Team
St Mary’s Creative Space bookings are supported by EQUANS. The cultural development of the venue is overseen by the CWAC Arts Team, supported by the User Group.
St Mary’s Creative Space User Group
Vision
The vision of St Mary’s Creative Space is to be an independent venue that supports the cultural offer and cultural development of Chester, its communities, cultural organisations and audiences through hires and programming and partnership across the city and region.
Aims
- To encourage and improve cultural use of the building by local cultural organisations
- To develop programming of the venue to support audience development
- To develop and improve the venue, its facilities and processes for hirers and audiences
- To embody a sense of user and community ownership
- For the building to be owned and loved by the community and its users
- To act as an incubation space for the performing arts eg young / new companies / techs
- To complement the work of and partner other cultural venues in the city
The User Group
Carl Bennett is a Chester based music promoter and booker bringing a unique twist to the city.
Grown out of the subterranean shadows of The Golden Eagle, it has found a stunning venue to hire at St. Mary's A Creative Space hosting such illustrious names as Ryley Walker, Laetitia Sadier, Terry Reid, John Smith, Langhorne Slim, The Handsome Family, Willy Mason, Josh Rouse, Howie Payne, Jesca Hoop, This Is The Kit and Michael Chapman.
Grown out of the subterranean shadows of The Golden Eagle, it has found a stunning venue to hire at St. Mary's A Creative Space hosting such illustrious names as Ryley Walker, Laetitia Sadier, Terry Reid, John Smith, Langhorne Slim, The Handsome Family, Willy Mason, Josh Rouse, Howie Payne, Jesca Hoop, This Is The Kit and Michael Chapman.
Penny has been involved with Chester Music Society for several years and is currently the Deputy Chair of the CMS Board of Trustees. She enjoys supporting concerts at a practical level, selling tickets and refreshments and meeting and greeting. She comments that from her perspective, “St Mary’s Creative space is a great venue for chamber and small ensemble concerts with a lovely piano and a very sweet acoustic.”
Phil Cross is a theatre maker and event organiser based in Chester and Ellesmere Port. He trained as an actor and worked for years in London, teaching, performing, directing and producing across multiple platforms. Including a stint as children's director on Oliver! and The Lion King in the West End.
After moving back to Chester Phil joined the board of directors for Tip Top productions, who he performed with as a child, and founded Chester Wizard School, an immersive halloween event for families. Day to day he is Associate Director at Theatre Porto a specialist producing Children's Theatre in Ellesmere Port.
After moving back to Chester Phil joined the board of directors for Tip Top productions, who he performed with as a child, and founded Chester Wizard School, an immersive halloween event for families. Day to day he is Associate Director at Theatre Porto a specialist producing Children's Theatre in Ellesmere Port.
Sara Frith from Mr & Mrs Theatre Company works with Emma Knight to support the development of St Mary's Creative Space. Sara has a background in dance, theatre and circus and is passionate about making art and culture available to all.
Paul has been a member of Chester Operatic Society since 1997. In addition to singing and acting in many shows and concerts, he is a past chairman having served on the committee for many years and been responsible for organising the production and marketing of many events. He is keen that people of all ages and abilities have the opportunity to make use of the facilities that St Mary's Creative Space offers.
Emma’s team want to support the shared aim of increasing professional and community arts use of the St Mary’s Creative Space.
This project supports the aims of the Cultural Strategy, and the team hopes to lever additional support and advice from partners of and colleagues within the Council to support St Mary’s Creative Space and the aims of the user group. Emma will be able to act as a link between colleagues and the user group, to feedback to them and consult on updates to the user agreements etc. She can also support relationships and links with other buildings and organisations where appropriate, e.g. Brio run venues.
This project supports the aims of the Cultural Strategy, and the team hopes to lever additional support and advice from partners of and colleagues within the Council to support St Mary’s Creative Space and the aims of the user group. Emma will be able to act as a link between colleagues and the user group, to feedback to them and consult on updates to the user agreements etc. She can also support relationships and links with other buildings and organisations where appropriate, e.g. Brio run venues.
Mark is a member of locally-based Against the Grain Theatre Company, who perform at St Mary's Creative Space on a regular basis. As well as acting and directing for AtG, the company have also successfully produced a number of Mark's full length plays, to much acclaim. He has been active in the local theatre scene for over 30 years and was - in much earlier days - Deputy House Manager at The Gateway Theatre before its closure in 2007. He also maintains close links with Chester Little Theatre.
Born and educated in Chester, Rose has been involved with its arts and culture from an early age, and is committed to helping it develop a credible offer as a ‘city of culture’.
An enthusiastic member of her school choir, Rose was concurrently one third of a popular acoustic trio, performing regionally, and appearing on BBC television. She was a peripatetic instrumental teacher for the former Cheshire County Council Education Department, before studying a combined honours degree in History and Psychology at the University of Chester. She became an editor across diverse regional and international publishing contexts (including arts reviews and Chester Summer Music Festival coverage). Rose is also a well-regarded solo performer and collaborator on the North West acoustic music scene and in her casual capacity as event creator/promoter, SoundBox.
An enthusiastic member of her school choir, Rose was concurrently one third of a popular acoustic trio, performing regionally, and appearing on BBC television. She was a peripatetic instrumental teacher for the former Cheshire County Council Education Department, before studying a combined honours degree in History and Psychology at the University of Chester. She became an editor across diverse regional and international publishing contexts (including arts reviews and Chester Summer Music Festival coverage). Rose is also a well-regarded solo performer and collaborator on the North West acoustic music scene and in her casual capacity as event creator/promoter, SoundBox.
