The Lion Arts Centre, also known as Fowler's Lion Factory and Fowlers Building, with the main music venue within known as the Lion Arts Factory (formerly Fowler's Live), is a multi-purpose arts centre, including studios, galleries, music and performance centres, and offices in Adelaide, South Australia. It is situated on the corner of North Terrace and Morphett Street in Adelaide's West End, in a refurbished and repurposed factory once owned by wholesale grocers D. & J. Fowler Ltd. With its distinctive red brick federation-style architecture, the 1906 building designed by Frank Counsell is state heritage-listed.
After its use as a factory ceased, the building started being used as a performance space. It was known as the Living Arts Centre from about 1986 until 1992, during which time the building was renovated, converted and renamed to Lion Arts Centre.
The Fowler's "Lion" Factory, with its distinctive parapet topped by a statue of a lion, was designed by architect Frank Counsell in federation style for D. & J. Fowler Ltd in 1906. [1] The brickwork was built by W. Sander & Sons, while the lion statue took three months to be carved by a Melbourne stonemason, [2] John Patrick Jackson. The building is noted for its high-quality brick detailing and the well-designed composition of the facade. [3] The building was used for packaging Fowler's Lion brand of flour, and the (original and now restored) signage on the parapet still says 'Fowler's "Lion" Factory'. Fowler's wide range of Lion brand products, trademarked in 1886, were very popular. [1]
The original symmetrical shape of the facade was destroyed in 1966, when the eastern wing was demolished for the widening of Morphett Street and the construction of two new bridges across North Terrace and the River Torrens. [1]
D & J Fowler was only taken over by Southern Farmers Ltd in 1982-83, [3] but the factory lay vacant from around the middle of the 20th century, until the space was revived in the 1970s as offices and performance space for the Adelaide Fringe Festival, which included live music [4] and was known as the Fringe Club. [5]
In 1984, there was a Steering Committee appointed to investigate the feasibility of the Living Arts Centre, the precursor to the Lion Arts Centre, with the full conversion of the building planned in 1991. [Note 1] AusStage lists ten sources which list performances at the Living Arts Centre between February 1986 and February 1990 (and one in 1994, but this may be an anomaly). [6] In 1992 the factory and surrounds was converted into an arts centre, henceforth known as the Lion Arts Centre, which became home to a variety of arts organisations. [1]
In 1988, a copy of the lion was installed on the parapet, the original having moved with D & J Fowler. [3] The yellow material seen slurping over the wall from the roof would represent custard, signifying the shift from industrial-commercial use of the building to arts use. The Lion brand of custard powder is still on sale as at 2022 <https://079.drakes.com.au/lines/lion-custard-powder-vanilla-375g>.
After the creation of the Centre in 1992, its tenants moved in, including the Media Resource Centre, Leigh Warren & Dancers (now Dance Hub SA) and Craftsouth [1] (formerly Craft Association of South Australia), a not-for-profit supporting visual artists and designers. [7]
As of 2019 [update] , the Lion Arts Centre accommodates the Media Resource Centre, Nexus Arts, [8] ACE Open galleries and studios, [9] the State Theatre Company of South Australia offices and Guildhouse (formerly Craftsouth). [7]
The JamFactory and Mercury Cinema are adjacent and sometimes regarded as part of the complex. [10]
In 2000–2001, Music House at the Lion Arts Centre was established, to provide in order to promote and develop the contemporary music industry in South Australia. [11] It occupied Level 1 of the building until 2002. [4]
From sometime before 2007 until 2015, the not-for-profit training and music promotion organisation Music SA was located on Level 1, with the address given as "Fowlers Building" for some of that time. [12] [13] [14]
On 4 July 2003, the music venue named Fowler's Live opened on the ground floor. It hosted a wide range of live music, including The Bellrays, Paul Dempsey, Ben Kweller, and Sonic Youth. The Fowler's Live Music Awards ran from 2012 to 2014, before being rebranded as the South Australian Music Awards in 2015. [4] The lease ended and Fowler's Live closed at the end of 2018.
With a tender process selecting the new lessees of the venue in August 2018, Ross Osmon and Craig Lock from Five Four Entertainment and Hugo Pedler from West Oak Hotel, along with design collaborators Sam, Simon and Tim Pearce [5] of Frame Creative, put together a pitch and won the lease to start operating from 1 January 2019, under the name Lion Arts Factory. [10] [15]
After a major renovation in January 2019, the ground floor, basement and mezzanine are occupied by The Lion Arts Factory, a live music venue. [15] Previously boarded windows had been opened up to let light in, paint stripped off the red brick walls, the main stage extended to 13 metres (43 ft) and the mezzanine reopened. Downstairs is the Coopers Green Room, with chesterfield sofas. [5] [16]
The emphasis is on live music, but management is also keen to host other forms of performing arts, in particular theatre and comedy. [10] All genres of music– heavy metal, rock and goth, punk, electric, hip-hop, house and others–are featured. Capacity is 500 and the venue opens until 5am on weekends. [15] The venue hosted Adelaide Fringe performances from 2020. [5]
The venue won the South Australian Music Awards' Best Venue award for two years in a row, and contributes around A$7 million to the local economy annually. [17]
Along with all live music venues, the Lion Arts Factory has been badly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia, losing over 250 shows as of October 2021. The co-owners of the venue and Five Four Entertainment have asked for financial assistance from the state government, and a five-year extension of their lease, to keep their businesses from ruin. [17]
North Terrace is one of the four terraces that bound the central business and residential district of Adelaide, the capital city of South Australia. It runs east–west, along the northern edge of "the square mile". The western end continues on to Port Road, and the eastern end continues across the Adelaide Parklands as Botanic Road.
Music of Adelaide includes music relating to the city of Adelaide, South Australia. It includes all genres of both live and recorded music by artists born or living in the city, live music events happening in the city, and other aspects of the music industry relating to Adelaide.
Light Square, also known as Wauwi, is one of five public squares in the Adelaide city centre. Located in the centre of the north-western quarter of the Adelaide city centre, its southern boundary is Waymouth Street, while Currie Street crosses its northern tip, isolating about a quarter of its land. Morphett Street runs through the centre in a north–south direction.
Dance Hub SA, formerly Leigh Warren & Dancers or Leigh Warren + Dancers (LWD) and then LWDance Hub, is a contemporary dance company based in the South Australian capital of Adelaide. Formed in 1993 by Leigh Warren, the company toured internationally and won several awards.
Adelaide Festival Centre, Australia's first capital city multi-purpose arts centre and the home of South Australia's performing arts, was built in the 1970s, designed by Hassell Architects. Located on Kaurna Yarta, the Festival Theatre opened in June 1973 with the rest of the centre following soon after. The complex includes Festival Theatre, Dunstan Playhouse, Space Theatre and several gallery and function spaces. Located approximately 50 metres (160 ft) north of the corner of North Terrace and King William Road, lying near the banks of the River Torrens and adjacent to Elder Park, it is distinguished by its two white geometric dome roofs, and lies on a 45-degree angle to the city's grid.
Adelaide city centre is the inner city locality of Greater Adelaide, the capital city of South Australia. It is known by locals simply as "the City" or "Town" to distinguish it from Greater Adelaide and from the City of Adelaide local government area. The population was 15,115 in the 2016 census.
Morphett Street is a main street in the west of the city centre of Adelaide, South Australia, parallel to King William Street and numbered from north to south. At its northern end it is part of the West End of Adelaide, a thriving cultural and entertainment precinct, with the Lion Arts Centre on the south-western corner of its junction with North Terrace.
Hindmarsh is an inner suburb of Adelaide, South Australia. It is located in the City of Charles Sturt.
The State Theatre Company of South Australia (STCSA), branded State Theatre Company South Australia, formerly the South Australian Theatre Company (SATC), is South Australia's leading professional theatre company, and a statutory corporation. It was established as the official state theatre company by the State Theatre Company of South Australia Act 1972, on the initiative of Premier Don Dunstan.
Mercury CX, formerly Media Resource Centre (MRC), is a not-for-profit film and television training organisation based in the Lion Arts Centre on the corner of Morphett Street and North Terrace, Adelaide, South Australia, which aims to give screening opportunities to emerging South Australian film, video and digital media artists. It also manages the not-for-profit Mercury Cinema, which shows films by subscription to the Adelaide Cinémathèque film society, screening classic or notable films and hosts film festivals and other events. Mercury CX hosts the Screenmakers Conference and the South Australian Screen Awards.
Francis Hedley Counsell FRAIA, always known as "Frank", was a South Australian architect known for pioneering use of reinforced concrete in the State.
D. & J. Fowler Ltd. was a wholesale grocery company in Adelaide, South Australia, founded as a retail establishment by David Fowler in 1854, before becoming a leading wholesale and indenting firm in South Australia. They were the creators and owners of the well-known Lion brand, which included confectionery, flour, coffee, canned fruit and other goods; "Lion" brand flour endures, under different ownership, today. The firm's interests and holdings were extensive, including the Adelaide Milling Company, Adelaide Bottle Company (1912), the Robur Tea Company (1928), and others.
OzAsia Festival, or simply OzAsia, is an Asia-focused arts festival in South Australia, presented by the Adelaide Festival Centre for two weeks in late October to early November each year. It features theatre, dance, music, film and visual arts from across Asia as well as outdoor events and food stalls. In some years it has focused on specific regions or countries in Asia.
ACE Open is a contemporary visual art organisation based in Adelaide, South Australia, established in 2017 after the Contemporary Art Centre of South Australia and the Australian Experimental Art Foundation (AEAF) were merged, creating a new organisation.
JamFactory is a not-for-profit arts organisation which includes training facilities, galleries and shops, located in the West End precinct of Adelaide and on the Seppeltsfield Estate in the Barossa Valley, north of Adelaide. It is supported by the South Australian Government and private donors.
Holden Street Theatres (HST) is a South Australian performing arts theatre complex in Hindmarsh, an inner-western suburb of Adelaide. It is housed in the heritage-listed All Saints' Anglican Church complex. The complex includes three performance spaces: The Studio, The Arch and The Bar, and is home to the Holden Street Theatre Company.
Music SA, formerly AusMusicSA and also known as South Australian Contemporary Music Company Ltd, is a non-profit organisation whose aims are to promote, support and develop contemporary music in South Australia, which it does by providing training at many levels, professional development advice and live performance opportunities.
The South Australian Music Awards, also known as SA Music Awards, commonly SAM Awards, formerly Fowler's Live Music Awards (FLMA), are annual awards that exist to recognise, promote and celebrate excellence in the South Australian contemporary music industry. They take place in Adelaide, South Australia every November. The venue has varied over the years.