Brighton Dome receives grant from American Express Foundation to restore distinctive heritage features
Brighton Dome & Brighton Festival have been awarded $80,000 from the prestigious American Express foundation to restore some of Brighton Dome’s heritage features.
The grant will enable a variety of improvements including renovations of the Dome’s decorative pinnacles, distinctive mosaic flooring and upgrades to the Concert Hall’s art deco ceiling.
American Express Foundation have supported Brighton Dome & Brighton Festival for decades. For the past four years they have been lead partners of the Access Programme which aims to challenge traditional perceptions about art and those individuals in society who are capable of producing it as well as creating new and dynamic ways for audiences to access information about Brighton Dome, touching the lives of some 40,000 people since its inception.
A key recent highlight is the installation of a new accessible audio-visual hub in the Brighton Dome foyer which provides a host of information about the heritage of the building, events and more via specially-created touch stone screens, joining a number of other improvements to the building and visitor experience. These include live-streamed shows, STAGETEXT captioned, British Sign Language interpreted and Relaxed performances and touch tours.
Tim McClimon, President American Express Foundation (New York), who recently visited the venue in person to explore some of the impacts of the partnership first-hand said: “We have enjoyed a longstanding and fruitful relationship with Brighton Dome & Brighton Festival which forms such an integral part of the city and local community. We are proud to fund Brighton Dome’s restorations to help ensure the venue can continue to sustain and attract visitors for years to come.”
Andrew Comben, Chief Executive Brighton Dome & Brighton Festival said: “Access to the arts for all is fundamental to our work at Brighton Dome & Brighton Festival. The generous and committed support of the American Express Foundation has been invaluable in enabling us to deliver major improvements and work towards our mission to inspire creativity and enrich lives through the arts.”
As a registered arts charity with 66% of operational costs having to be found through a variety of sources each year, the constant improvement of access facilities relies on further corporate and private supporters to follow American Express’ example. Interested parties are invited to contact [javascript protected email address].