The Belmont Arts Collaborative exists to provide artists and organizations the opportunity to produce work in a dedicated performing arts space. We are located in the historic Belmont neighborhood of Charlottesville, Virginia, just a few blocks from the downtown mall. Our 2300 square foot space, with a black box theater that seats up to 99, adjoins a second space which houses three rehearsal studios. If you have a show you’d like to produce or classes you’d like to teach, please reach out to us!
Board of Directors:
Laura Baker, Matt Charles, Crystal Johnson and Kara Watson.
We are currently interviewing new board members -- please email info@BelmontArts.org if you are interested.
Construction update - Phases 1-3 are complete and Phase 4 is underway
Phase 1 of construction, which included a new front entrance, green room/dressing room, 2 bathrooms, a kitchenette, a lobby, and the black box theater has been completed. The two new front doors and the existing sliding doors have been improved with a facade project that extends to the center at 221 Carlton.
Phase 2 of improvements which included a sprung floor in the black box, was completed in 2019.
Thanks to a generous donor, we were able to install fireproof curtains in the black box theatre as well as curtains over mirrors in our studios.
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Phase 3 of improvements included a painted lobby and the installation of a large projection screen and projector, thanks to a generous donor.
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Phase 4 includes the installation of a new private studio on the "studio side" for private voice or piano.
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Partnerships:
We are currently collaborating or have collaborated with the following organizations: DMR Adventures, Charlottesville Playwrights Collective, DanceFit, The Actors Training Studio with Jon Emm, Wesley Diener Vocal Studio, Big Blue Door, UVA Circus Club, WTJU/Lambeth Live, Four County Players, Live Arts, The Center for Vocal Studies, Writers Remembered: A Literary Collective of Black Women.
Please watch the video below about the making of the BAC and our first year in the space.
"Belmont Arts Collaborative is important to our community because it offers a space of artistic expression for the creative groups in Charlottesville that aren't fiscally capable of having their own brick and mortar building. Recently, I had the opportunity to work as a stage manager for Phoenix Theatre Works on their debut production. BAC made it possible for Phoenix Theatre Works to begin, and that is the type of opportunity available to all artists in Charlottesville, and I look forward to the next opportunity I have to create there."
- Gabby Lossia
“The Belmont Arts Collaborative is a fabulous idea that came along at just the right time! My group, the Charlottesville Playwrights Collective, recently formed to produce full-length plays written by local authors. We successfully brought together most of the elements necessary to do just that, but we struggled to find a space. Then along came Melissa Charles. She has done remarkable work converting a warehouse into a fully functioning theater, and also helped bring creative life to a part of town that is just now getting attention from the broader community. Without the Belmont Arts Collaborative, I don’t know where we’d be, and we all look forward to an ongoing and fruitful partnership.”
-Sean McCord, Charlottesville Playwrights Collective
"Belmont Arts Collaborative is the most exciting news in the Charlottesville arts scene we've heard in years. This is a theater that is truly open to the community, a place for creative work generated in the area that's vital, original, and free. It's an opportunity and a resource for everyone!"
- Joel Jones, co-director of Big Blue Door