Darlington Arts Centre is steeped in history and originally began its life as Darlington College of Education. In 2001 ownership of the building was officially handed over to Darlington Borough Council. Since then, ongoing improvements and updating have maintained the profile of Darlington Arts Centre as one of the top regional arts venues.

There are two main performance spaces, the main Theatre seating up to 340 and the Studio, a new theatre space with a capacity of 100. The Garden Bar is also a popular music venue and also seats 100 people.

The Arts Centre hosts a wide range of activities and services including visual arts, theatre, film, music, comedy and a varied programme of activities, workshops and education. It is also the home of the National Association of Youth Theatres (NAYT) and CTC Theatre Company.

The Arts Centre currently welcomes approximately 55,000 visitors to over 250 productions each year.
In 2007 the Arts Centre completed an exciting refurbishment programme, which improved facilities for our customers and visiting artists. The improvements included; a new studio theatre space dedicated to theatre work for and by young people. Accessible dressing rooms, to serve both the new studio theatre space and the existing theatre improving facilities for disability led companies, whose work is prioritised in our programming. The foyer has been completely refurbished and renamed as the lounge – a lively meeting place for Arts Centre visitors with an exciting range of food and drink available.

In addition to the Myles Meehan Gallery there is now a community gallery named the lounge gallery, providing exhibition space for local artists to display their work, the Club Room has been updated to provide an ideal venue for hire and the Garden Bar can now be accessed via a platform lift.

The new plaza with outdoor performance area and café space for alfresco dining to the front of the building now has improved parking, a drop-off area and pedestrian access.