Centre for Contemporary Arts

The Centre for Contemporary Arts (CCA) was a major publicly subsidised arts centre in Glasgow, Scotland, that operated from 1992 until its closure and liquidation in February 2026. Established in the footprint of the pioneering Third Eye Centre, the CCA became a significant venue for contemporary art, performance, film, and music in Scotland's largest city. At its peak, the centre hosted hundreds of annual events and maintained an open-source programming policy that allowed diverse organisations and individuals to direct their own activities within its spaces.

The CCA's origins lie in the Third Eye Centre, founded in 1974 by the Scottish Arts Council under Tom McGrath as a multi-media arts venue. The Third Eye Centre quickly established itself as what The Guardian described as "a shrine to the avant garde," hosting performers including Allen Ginsberg, Whoopi Goldberg, Billy Connolly, and Kathy Acker, and musicians such as Derek Bailey, Julius Eastman, and Keith Tippett. It also played a formative role in the rise of the new Glasgow painters Steven Campbell, Ken Currie, and Peter Howson in the 1980s, and hosted exhibitions by Susan Hiller, Sam Ainsley, Damien Hirst, and Sophie Calle. The centre was additionally the home of the National Review of Live Art and hosted the launch of Alasdair Gray's Lanark in 1981.

After the Third Eye Centre closed, the CCA was established in 1992. From 1999 to 2001, the building underwent major redevelopment, during which the centre expanded by taking over a neighbouring villa and a building on Scott Street, doubling its size. The CCA was temporarily closed in 2014 following a ruinous fire at the nearby Glasgow School of Art, reopening in October 2018. In September 2024, the centre announced temporary closure amid what it termed "significant financial concerns." Despite this, the CCA had continued operations until February 2026, when it closed permanently and fell into liquidation.

The CCA did not function as a traditional collecting institution but rather as a presenting and producing organisation. Its programming encompassed contemporary art exhibitions, music and experimental sound, performing arts, and film. The centre maintained an open-source programming policy, providing space for organisations and individuals to direct their own events. In 2019-20, this approach yielded 256 programme partners across 1,304 events and 28 festivals. The CCA curated approximately six contemporary art exhibitions annually in its gallery space and operated the Intermedia Gallery for emerging artists. It also ran a programme of artist residencies through its Creative Lab and international exchanges, and in 2015 launched a dedicated public engagement programme.

As a non-collecting venue, the CCA did not maintain permanent art holdings. Its significance derived from its programming history and the cultural events it hosted. During the Third Eye Centre era, notable occurrences included the recording of Ivor Cutler's Life in a Scotch Sitting Room Vol II in 1978. The centre's later programming continued this tradition of notable cultural production, though specific works remained in the possession of artists or touring organisations rather than the institution itself.

The CCA was housed in the Grecian Chambers at 350 Sauchiehall Street on the corner of Scott Street, a category A listed building designed by Alexander 'Greek' Thomson and constructed in 1867-1868. The German Wikipedia source indicates the three-storey building was originally designed as commercial premises in the Egyptian Revival style. The building was purchased by the Scottish Arts Council in the 1970s and underwent renovation by the architectural firm Page & Park from 1999 to 2001, with renovation costs of £10.5 million funded by the Scottish Arts Council Lottery Fund. The CCA Bar in the building's atrium was designed by Jorge Pardo, featuring bright colours and curved wooden surfaces that drew on 1960s psychedelic aesthetics. The redeveloped site opened in October 2001. The centre also housed Aye-Aye Books, the Third Eye Bar (which opened in April 2024 with murals by Fraser Taylor), and a flat for visiting artists.

Located on Sauchiehall Street in central Glasgow, the CCA was accessible as a public cultural venue until its February 2026 closure. The building contained multiple facilities for visitors: five divisible performance and exhibition spaces, a 75-seat cinema for art-house, experimental, and historical film screenings, an education and public engagement room, and rental spaces for artists. The centre was substantially subsidised by Creative Scotland and served as home to several other arts organisations including LUX Scotland and the Scottish Writers Centre. The Saramago café and bar closed in 2023 following industrial action supported by Industrial Workers of the World, and was replaced by the Third Eye Bar in 2024. Following liquidation in February 2026, the CCA ceased all operations and no longer functions as an active arts venue.