A Birmingham arts venue has reopened to the public after closing for two years to enable a major £15m renovation to be carried out.

Work at the Midlands Arts Centre (mac) has included the creation of the Gallery, the venue's first purpose-built exhibition space, as well as refurbished visual arts, crafts and performing arts studios. A new visual arts education suite and an audio and visual media studio capable of transmitting to other parts of the centre are also among the mac's new facilities.

The centre has been working on the scheme in partnership with a local south Asian arts company - sampad, which promotes work originating from countries such as India and Sri Lanka. Improved access, upgraded seating and lighting and a larger café have also formed part of the renovation, which received funding from Birmingham City Council and other sources.

mac chief executive and artistic director Dorothy Wilson said: "Over the last two years, the one element that's been missing from mac has been the people, and it's wonderful at the end of a project like this to see mac brought back to life in such spectacular fashion."