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Centre for Contemporary Arts to reopen in Glasgow

CCA A street view of the Centre for Contemporary Arts building. It has floor-to-ceiling windows and a black banner sign at the top says CCA: Centre for Contemporary Arts. Bikes are locked up outside and a group of people converse on the pavement. CCA
The Sauchiehall Street venue is home to a number of cultural tenants

Glasgow's Centre for Contemporary Arts (CCA) has announced it will reopen in April after receiving multi-year funding from Creative Scotland.

The centre, which is home to a number of cultural tenants, partially closed in December due to significant financial concerns.

It previously blamed the effects of the Covid pandemic and fires at the Glasgow School of Art for taking a toll on the business.

The CCA said the past year had been "incredibly tough" but the team were "absolutely delighted" to get the funding award from the arts body.

The centre was previously forced to close in 2018 after a fire destroyed the nearby Glasgow School of Art.

Several of the businesses that rented out space inside the building never returned after it reopened, and the centre's café bar was later closed permanently after its operator pulled out.

A CCA spokesperson said: "We have fought incredibly hard to keep CCA alive and to make sure we would be here for the long term.

"This funding is a recognition of that fight, and a testament to the resilience, creativity and determination of our team, the artists we work with, and the community that has stood by us."

The CCA is among 251 cultural organisations that will share over £200m through multi-year Creative Scotland funding after a financial boost from the Scottish government.

The Dundee Rep Theatre was granted funding as well as two independent cinemas, The Belmont in Aberdeen and Filmhouse in Edinburgh, which were both closed in October 2022 when their parent company went into administration.

The teams behind the cinemas hope to reopen them soon with the new financial backing.

Last year some of Scotland's best-known music acts warned of a looming "cultural catastrophe" due to cuts in arts funding.

Creative Scotland's funding decisions were delayed by three months as the Scottish government could not confirm its own budget allocations until the UK budget was announced.

'Foundational moment'

Culture Secretary Angus Robertson said the recent deals could be "truly transformational" for the sector.

"This is a foundational moment for culture and the arts in Scotland," he said.

"More organisations than ever, in more parts of the country, will benefit from the stability of multi-year funding"

Creative Scotland has recently been at the centre of controversy over how it chooses to allocate funds from the Scottish government and the UK National Lottery.

A year ago, it withdrew cash for an arts project involving real sex acts amid heavy criticism from politicians and women's groups.

Robertson assured MSPs that such projects would not be supported in future.