Ballina Arts Centre is based in Ballina Co. Mayo, Ireland. The town of Ballina has an urban population of up to 15,000 people, with an additional 30,000 in the hinterland. For a number of years, much work has been done to develop an arts centre for the town. Last year, a major step was taken towards that goal when the old Town Council building was opened up as an interim arts space, offering the potential for exhibitions, workshops and other events to take place: the temporary venue has been adapted to arts purposes. Already there are plans for a purpose-built building, which will form part of a bigger civic development, incorporating local authority offices. Late last year, the appointment of a full-time manager meant a fully fledged arts programme can now be delivered to the people of the area.

Ballina has strong traditional heritage, encompassing music and dance. This is augmented by a thriving culture of young rock bands and sing-songwriters. The development of Ballina Arts Centre, offers support to visual artists by the provision of a visual arts space, and a growing programme of artists' workshop and master-classes.

Funders for the project include The Arts Council, Mayo County Council, Ballina Town Council, along with a considerable local contribution. Ballina has been designated as a key locus to ensure equal provision of arts service within the county of Mayo, which spans considerable geographic distances.

A consultative report was carried out in 2000, by Mr. Alan Tweedy to ascertain the viability of the project. His report was extremely positive, and found that a wide range of artists, local community and user groups were very supportive of the plan. Following this extensive evaluation and consultation process, the model envisaged for Ballina will entail collaborative, inclusive programming of both professional and amateur, as well as community-based arts.

Ballina Arts Centre is working towards arts provision to achieve the following aims and objectives:   

• to establish Ballina Arts Centre as a vibrant and successful Arts Organisation.                 
• to provided an excellent wuality of service to the community.
• to establish the broadest possible base of funding for Ballina Arts Centre, in order to secure its future.
• to be a centre of best practice for professional and non-professional artists.
• to increase participation, enjoyment and awareness of the art.
• and to establish a wide audience which is a representative of the whole community.

 In order to achieve these aims and objectives, the centre plans and programmes across the whole spectrum of art forms and practices, to develo audiences in anticipation of the newly dedicated space. The programme includes:

• Music development, endeavouring to achieve a balance between the major music forms and genres, including, classiacal, traditional, jazz, choral, world, folk, blues, etc.
• Theatre and Dance. However, due to the limitations of the current venue, the Arts Centre can only stage small productions, but aims to develop an interest in theatre and dance by hosting small quality productions throughout the year. The Arts Centre will also work in partnership with Yew Tree theatre, a professional theatre company based in Ballina, to bring the performing arts to the North Mayo area.
• Visual Arts, providing a year-long programme of exhibitions, gallery talks, and workshops.

Ballina Arts Centre is access-driven and participatory in ethos. Since its inception, it has developed and maintained strong links with a number of local community groups, and 2009 will see the futher development of an education and outreach programme. The Arts Centre has recently established a panel of artists who will facilitate workshops and outreach projects, throughout the year. The artists/facilitators panel and visual exhibition programme were drawn up through an open submission process assessed by relevant, independent experts. A programme has been selected featuring a range of art practices for exhibition in 2009.

As part of the Centre's Education programme, plans are afoot to establish a programme of workshops, talks, seminars etc. around the exhibition programme.