Home of the Arts, Gold Coast

Front of the building and carpark, 2015

Surrounded by parklands and a lake, HOTA, Home of the Arts is a vibrant cultural precinct situated in the heart of the Gold Coast. Year round, indoors and out, HOTA presents live music, theatre, dance, comedy, opera, kids shows, art, cinema from the best local, national and international artists and companies.

The HOTA precinct is the centre-piece of the City of Gold Coast Council’s Gold Coast Cultural Precinct masterplan.

HOTA was also home to the Gold Coast City Art Gallery which closed in 2018 to prepare for the opening of the new HOTA Gallery in early 2021 and was formerly known as The Arts Centre Gold Coast and Gold Coast Arts Centre.

History

HOTA was first named ‘The Keith Hunt Community Entertainment and Arts Centre’ and known as ‘The Centre’. It was officially opened in December 1986 and is owned and managed by the Gold Coast City Council. With a second name change, it then became the ‘Gold Coast Arts Centre’ and this name remained until March 2010.

In 1993, the Gold Coast City Council formed the Gold Coast Arts Centre Proprietary Company Limited as a separate legal entity. The purpose of this was to diversify funding income, deepen community engagement and increase marketplace flexibility. The Gold Coast City Council is the sole shareholder in the company and continues to provide the majority of funding.

The Gold Coast Arts Centre was registered as an Australian Private Company but has tax concession status as a Charitable Institution. Therefore it can access tax concessions of GST Concession, FBT Rebate and Income Tax Redemption. The Gold Coast Arts Centre Pty Ltd operates two funds endorsed for deductible gift recipient status.

In 1996, The Arts Café was added, and in 2004 an extension was built, comprising a new cinema, two function rooms and an administration area.

In March 2010, the Gold Coast Arts Centre was renamed, rebranded, refurbished and relaunched as The Arts Centre Gold Coast, as part of an ongoing change of strategic direction. The Arts Centre Gold Coast (TAC) is a registered trading name of Gold Coast Arts Centre Pty Ltd.

In 2018, a fresh rebrand took place and the venue became HOTA – Home of the Arts. This rebrand signified a step into a more contemporary space and more accurately described HOTA's role and vision to be a true home of the arts for the Gold Coast.

After welcoming more than 1,240,352 visitors and 700 exhibitions over the past 33 years, the original Gallery at HOTA closed in 2018 and construction is now nearing completion of the new $60.5m new HOTA Gallery which is due to open in early 2021.

Facilities

HOTA Home of the Arts is a contemporary cultural precinct where art meets life. Facilities include:

• Outdoor Stage
• HOTA Gallery (under construction - opening early 2021)
• Theatre 1 - 1139 Seat traditional theatre
• Theatre 2 - smaller black box theatre
• HOTA Cinema
• Panorama Room
• Lakeside Room
• Basement
• Various Function Rooms and Spaces
• HOTA Cafe
• Sculpture Walk
• St. Margaret's Chapel
• Adventure Trail (climb over the Outdoor Stage)
• Lake
• HOPO Ferry stop
• Bridge connecting HOTA to Chevron Island / Surfers Paradise
• Accessibility

Outdoor Stage

The Outdoor Stage officially opened on March 17, 2018 with a sold-out performance by Tim Minchin. The outdoor stage is surrounded by parklands and a lake, with views to the Surfers Paradise skyline. The structure is framed by a 100-tonne self-supporting screen that protects performers from sun and glare. The stage is 20 metres wide from wall-to-wall and 1.4m high (from stage to stage forecourt) and includes a 5.5 tonne bi-fold proscenium door.

Theatre 1

Theatre 1 is a traditional theatre hat has two levels of seating that can hold 1139 people. The auditorium has full stage facilities for theatre, conventions, and product launches.

HOTA Cafe

Opening onto a large deck, HOTA Cafe is an indoor and outdoor licensed establishment with multiple views of the Surfers Paradise skyline and serves meals, snacks, coffees and alcoholic beverages. There is also a Foyer Bar and a Candy Bar inside HOTA Central.

HOTA Cinema

HOTA Cinemas offer movies from mainstream blockbusters, to arthouse and foreign films. The two cinemas play films seven days a week except Good Friday and Christmas. The latest cinema has state-of-the-art sound systems.

Accessibility at HOTA CInema:

Closed Captions are available on select movies that contain the technology which is indicated with a [CC] or closed caption available text. HOTA has 3 types of equipment available to assist guests upon a first in first served basis. Closed Caption Headset Receivers assist hearing impaired guests and are glasses with captions that receive the caption via Infrared energy. A Closed Caption Receiver is a Gooseneck held caption box that receives captions via infrared energy and rests in the chair cup holder. Listening assistive headsets are for visually impaired guests assisting listening to audio-described movies to improve enjoyment of all the parts of a movie, including visual jokes, visual scenes, settings and body language. These headsets can also be used to assist hearing impaired guests with audio enhancement. The audio is delivered through a personal headset with individual left and right volume controls.

St. Margaret's Chapel

The St. Margaret's Chapel is a non-denominational historic chapel that holds receptions and weddings. The Chapel is within easy walking distance of new function rooms at HOTA.

The HOTA Project

The HOTA precinct is the centre-piece of the City of Gold Coast Council’s Gold Coast Cultural Precinct masterplan. The Gold Coast Cultural Precinct masterplan is a result of City of Gold Coast Council’s vision of a central cultural precinct for the city’s thriving cultural and artistic activity.

Delivery of the $37.5 million Outdoor Stage marked the completion of Stage 1a of the Masterplan. Stage 1b was the construction of a new Bridge to Chevron Island which improved connectivity to Surfers Paradise. The $19.5 million bridge crosses between the parklands and a vacant lot on Stanhill Drive, Chevron Island and was officially opened in early 2020.

The second part to Stage 1b is the addition of a state of the art, world class new art gallery. The new purpose built $60.5 million HOTA Gallery will be the largest gallery outside a capital city in Australia and will enable HOTA to present exhibitions and projects of national and international scale that focus on art and design, both indoors and out. Construction began in mid-2018 and the Gallery will open in early 2021.

See also

• Gold Coast City Art Gallery

Further reading

• Murray, Pamela (1998). Arts and soul : a history of the Gold Coast's cultural pioneers and the Gold Coast Arts Centre. Griffith University. ISBN 978-0-86857-928-3.