Trustees Week 2024

"When I told my son’s teacher that I was going to become Chair of Chapter her eyes lit up. She told me that as a young child she came to the venue all the time and it blew her mind and made her want to learn more about art. I quickly came to understand that it wasn’t just her who felt that way. If you sit in the caffi bar, it’s easy to get into a conversation. Someone will tell you about a painting they saw in the gallery that made them ponder, or if you sit next to one of the artists based in the building, they might tell you about the challenges of putting on their show at a festival or getting their film commissioned. In the social space, I’ve also met activists inspired by films they’ve seen.

All these stories remind me that art, in all its forms, has the power to transform lives. But I’ve also learnt that great works don’t just happen by chance - places like Chapter are needed to nurture and develop creativity; we support the gem of a good idea to mature into great work. We help today’s emerging artists become tomorrow’s celebrated talent. We support stories from voices that are not often heard and connect them to people keen to listen.

For over fifty years, our arts centre has been giving life to the Welsh experience and reporting this to the rest of the world, whilst at the same time enriching the lives of the people of Wales by bringing them stories from all over the globe. Chapter was founded in 1971, the vision of three young Welsh artists and writers wanting a home for creativity within the community. Today we’ve developed into an institution that contributes culturally, socially and economically to our local community of Canton, Cardiff, Wales and beyond. We are an 80 people strong organisation with a range of skills that reflect the diversity of the things we do - from fundraisers to curators, and technicians to baristas."