Dear readers — today we’re deviating from regular programming to bring you some breaking — and indeed, heartbreaking — news.
The Centre for Contemporary Arts, one of Scotland’s most significant arts organisations is entering liquidation. During a video call at lunchtime today, staff were told that the CCA would cease operations with “immediate effect”, and that everyone would lose their jobs. Someone who attended the meeting told The Bell that staff were in shock, having only heard about the meeting this morning. As of its March 2024 accounts, the CCA employed 39 staff directly, with many more relying on contract and freelance work.
The organisation had been facing financial difficulties for years which, despite recent public funding, left the CCA “no longer able to continue operating”, according to an email sent to programme partners this afternoon. The CCA first opened to the public in 1992, replacing the Third Eye Centre, which started life in 1975 and closed in 1991 due to funding issues.
The email confirmed the “deeply painful” news, and acknowledged the “real loss” to audiences, collaborators, and the wider Glasgow and Scottish art world. All contracts with partners are to be terminated and events to be cancelled, including a drumming championship and an exhibition opening that were scheduled for tomorrow. The email stated that “staff dignity and wellbeing” were now the “absolute priority”.
The CCA has had to shut twice in the last two years. The first closure, between December 2024–April 2025, was due to financial uncertainty. It secured £3.4 million of funding from Creative Scotland in January 2025, allowing it to reopen. The second closure resulted from a protest organised by art workers who were calling on the CCA to sign up to the Palestinian academic and cultural boycott of Israel (PACBI). It lasted over two months. Last week, there was another protest in the building that went without incident. Today, the CCA has shut for good. A staff member who was present in the meeting called it “an absolute disgrace”.
The Bell has been reporting on the CCA for over a year now, including breaking last month’s news that the chair of the Board, Muse Greenwood, had stepped down after just 35 days in the job. In tomorrow’s long read, we’re bringing you the inside story of how one of Scotland’s most important cultural venues lost its way. Sign up to receive it in your inbox at 7am.
