QUAD Derby

Although QUAD is a new organisation, it was formed when two well established arts organisations from Derby; Q Arts and Metro Cinema, joined forces with Derby City Council to create a cultural partnership. The experience of the former organisations and the new purpose-built building is set to reinforce Derby's growing reputation on the national cultural scene. The ambitions of QUAD are for it to be an organisation and building that is of local, national and international significance, striving to best serve the needs of the people of Derby and the region and attracting the most significant and important names in the world of art and film to the city.

Metro Cinema was Derby's only independent cinema with an excellent reputation of bringing the best of world cinema to Derby. When Metro Cinema was first established the film screenings took place at the Playhouse theatre for a short time until the cinema opened on Green Lane in January 1981, at the original site of the Derby Central School of Art. Metro moved from Green Lane at the end of 2006 to a temporary home in The Heap Lecture Theatre at the University of Derby on Kedleston Road. Metro's last screening at The Heap was on Sunday 23rd March 2008, the projection equipment was then removed and prepared for installation in QUAD.

Q Arts was established in 1998, building on the foundations of Derby Community Arts (DCA), an organisation which, over twenty years, collaborated with artists and thousands of Derby people to create exciting and high quality art work. Q Arts brought together the DCA Woods Lane premises, the former Montage Gallery on Queen Street and the former Arbor Darkrooms and Gallery to become Q Workshops, Q Gallery and Q Studios. In 2003 Q Workshops moved from Woods Lane to St James Centre on Malcolm Street.

Q Arts was Derby's foremost visual arts gallery and a major force on the participatory arts scene nationally. The exhibition programme was fresh and challenging, with a strong focus on digital arts. The participatory arts programme encouraged a broad range of people from all walks of life to engage with the arts at all levels.

The development of QUAD has enabled Q Arts and Metro Cinema to realise a long-held ambition to bring all their activities together in a high quality environment and provide an exceptional stimulus for visual arts development in the city.