Securing Mull Theatre's home, expanding our creative space, and creating vital early years provision to support island families and strengthen our community for generations to come.
Estimated Price
1600000
An Tobar and Mull Theatre (AT&MT) is a multi-arts centre on the Isle of Mull and the only producing theatre in the Hebrides. We aspire to be an island voice holding space for island experience in global culture at a time when the voices of rural communities are drowned out. We serve:
Local and visiting artists, providing space, time, and collaborative opportunities to experiment and grow.
All school-age children on Mull, providing arts engagement and curriculum enrichment.
Young people, creating pathways in the creative industries and amplifying youth voice through the arts.
Older adults, including those living with dementia and other long-term conditions, supporting wellbeing and inclusion.
AT&MT has been recognised as a leader in community-based arts practice by the Federation of Scottish Theatre. The value of our community outreach, arts provision, and advocacy for rural communities is reflected in the thoughtful feedback we continue to receive from our local community:
“Engaging directly with one’s local community and peers is a valuable experience as it provides opportunity to share ideas and experiences and reinforces connectivity across our islands. I feel that this type of outreach work [AT&MT’s community outreach programme] is fundamental to a thriving cultural ecology on Mull and Iona” – Studio Cèilidh participant
What do we want to do and why?
To deepen our impact, we are launching an ambitious development project that responds directly to the needs of our island community. This includes:
Stage 1 (in progress): Securing the land beneath Mull Theatre.
Stage 2: Enhancing physical access to our site through key infrastructure upgrades, including levelling and resurfacing our access road and car park and creating clearly-marked disabled parking spaces.
Stage 3: Extending the current building to include creative workshop spaces for artists, an early years facility, and a hospitality offer.
Stage 4: Developing a small number of on-site homes for staff members, ensuring that we can support our workforce and ensure continuity.
This project is essential to:
Protect the future of Mull's only professional theatre and the only producing theatre in the Hebrides. Currently operating under a lease, securing ownership of our site will give us long-term stability and the confidence to plan boldly.
Address a critical shortage in early years childcare. Mull faces a well-documented lack of affordable and accessible childcare. This project offers a creative, community-centred solution that supports parents and caregivers to participate fully in island life and the creative sector.
Nurture the next generation of artists and islanders. The early years and workshop spaces will be designed with care, learning, discovery, and cultural enrichment at their heart.
Grow the island's creative ecology and promote the artistic excellence of Argyll and Bute on a national and international level. New workshop spaces will allow us to host more artists-in-residence. It will also offer affordable rehearsal and creation space for artists, and extend our ability to deliver training, workshops, and events that connect Mull and Argyll and Bute to the wider cultural landscape of Scotland and beyond.
Strengthen community and staff wellbeing. As we emerge from the social and economic challenges of recent years, this development supports community recovery through creativity, care, and collaboration. Building key worker accommodation also ensures that we can support a resilient workforce.
Improving access to cultural and community facilities. Improving our road and car park will ensure that our theatre is more accessible for our community, removing a key barrier to cultural participation in rural settings.
Who are our partners?
We will work in partnership with:
Local early years creative learning practitioners and educators, ensuring the crèche is child-centred, safe, and rooted in best practice.
Forestry and Land Scotland, to navigate our land purchase and ensure the building extension is designed with care and attention to our beautiful natural surroundings.
Mull and Iona Community Trust (MICT), to ensure the facility is bespoke and meets the needs of our island community.
Our Community Advisory Group, to ensure that local voices and lived experience remain at the heart of the project.
This project is about more than bricks and mortar, it's about building a future where creativity, care, and community thrive side-by-side.
