The Centre originally opened on Sauchiehall Street in the 1970s as The Third Eye Centre. A beacon for Glasgow’s counterculture community, the Centre boasted performances from the likes of Billy Connolly, John Byrne, Allen Ginsberg, and Whoopi Goldberg. It played a key role in the rise of Glasgow painters like Ken Currie and Steven Campbell, as well as presenting shows from artists like Damien Hirst and Sophie Calle.

The Centre for Contemporary Arts took over from the Third Eye Centre in 1991 and continued as a self-described “forum for ideas and events” as well as “an arts hub for the city”. The CCA held onto a closed curatorial policy until an existential crisis in 2006 when it underwent a “profound cultural shift” and leaned into a more open-source approach to its programming.

The Centre has dealt with ups and downs over the years, but the last few have exposed deeply rooted vulnerabilities that have thrown into question what shape the institution will take when it reopens. Pictures of protestors clustered outside of its doors this summer called to mind a similar scene plaguing the CCA in 2023.

In March of that year, a rogue group of workers at the Saramago, a longstanding bar operating inside (but independently from) the CCA, organised a work stoppage in the middle of a bustling Friday night service. Lights were switched on, confused conversations slowly dwindled, and a chipper waitress walked around with a freshly printed off letter for customers to sign in support of their action, which was about grievances with working conditions.

The dispute led to three staff being sacked on shift for breaching their contract with the “unannounced” work stoppage, and weeks of protests outside the bar ensued. The IWW union (Industrial Workers of the World) got involved and urged the public and arts organisations to boycott Saramago. The staff members claimed they were sacked for taking part in union-endorsed strike action. Owners of Saramago claimed the majority of staff did not support the action. A spokesperson for Unite told The Herald it was aware of the dispute, but no staff were affiliated with the union. “[The IWW] is not a recognised union in the UK or affiliated with the TUC,” the spokesperson added. “No TUC-affiliated union would endorse the action that took place as it breaks union strike guidelines.”

On April 21, the CCA severed its relationship with Saramago, and the cafe bar closed. Around 20 people lost their jobs. It was the first shoe to drop. Director Francis McKee, who was at the helm of the CCA for 18 years, stepped down at the end of 2023.

By 2024, it was starting to become clear that the CCA was under significant pressure. The Centre announced in September that its finances were no longer viable, citing “unprecedented” financial uncertainty. Bosses said they would close between December 2024 and March 2025 to “focus on restructuring and ensuring financial recovery”.

The reigns of the CCA had slipped from grasp, but hope emerged in January with the news that the Centre had been successful in its bid for Creative Scotland funding. The organisation was awarded £3.4 million over three years. They announced the Centre would finally reopen on April 1 and began looking for an operator to run their on-site bar and kitchen (which the CCA had been operating itself as Third Eye Bar since May 2024).

The doors were only just getting used to swinging back and forth again when the CCA came under fire from AWPS. The lobby group called on the CCA to adopt a Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) policy or endorse the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI). The PACBI advocates for a boycott of Israeli academic and cultural institutions, while endorsing BDS would mean the venue and staff publicly support a wider boycott of Israeli institutions and companies. An open letter was signed by more than 800 artists, workers, and audiences, urging the CCA to take action.

The AWPS organised the week-long takeover of the CCA in June. It was intended to be a “reclaiming” of the institution with a spontaneous five-day programme of public events, centring Palestinian liberation, Palestinian art and culture, anticolonial thought and the complicity of our arts organisations”.

The ‘CCA: Liberated Zone’ event was meant to be held in the CCA’s public courtyard and begin with an Arabic Script Workshop on Tuesday. But the CCA informed AWPS that morning that they would not be allowed in the building. “We need as many people to mobilise at CCA at noon, to enter the building and reclaim the public courtyard so that the liberated zone can go ahead,” AWPS wrote in a callout to their Instagram followers. The CCA called the police in response to “forced entry”.

The CCA closed its doors once again. Long-term resident Aye Aye Books was caught in the crossfire and “asked to leave” the premises after 17 years of trading (the bookshop had endorsed PACBI in January). Weeks went by before the CCA released a statement, apologising for their handling of the protest.

It’s ongoing challenge of recruiting permanent senior leadership has no end in sight. “The Board had previously agreed on a period of turnaround, which would happen this year,” a spokesperson told The Herald. “Recent events have now accelerated these plans, and we are in active discussion with our funders and other stakeholders about how we move this process forward. CCA is working towards reopening the week of August 25.”

When it reopens, it will be “without formal endorsement” of PACBI, but said it is working towards “adopting an ethical fundraising and programming policy”. “We condemn the violence of the Israeli state, the ongoing occupation, genocide, and the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza”, the statement continued. “We stand firmly against all forms of oppression and in support of the rights and dignity of the Palestinian people.”

In response, AWFP acknowledged the statement as a “vital and momentous change of direction at CCA” and heralded it as a big win. “We expect, and demand, that CCA will formally endorse PACBI by November,” they added in a statement on Instagram. They also called for the finance manager, Steven Thomson, to be dismissed, the Interim Director of Operations, Steve Slater, to be replaced with a permanent director “who is capable of working with the staff and the community” and the “replacement of the Chair and the entire board”.

For five months out of eight this year, the CCA has been closed. With the threadbare leadership left at the institution under such immense political pressure, it is clear that whoever takes the reins will have a tough road ahead.

“We’re asking for continued support and patience as we move through this process of reflection, repair, renewal and reopening,” said a spokesperson for the CCA. “We remain committed to rebuilding trust and ensuring that CCA continues to be a space where artists, audiences, and communities feel welcome, supported, and heard.”

Marissa MacWhirter is a columnist and feature writer at The Herald, and the editor of The Glasgow Wrap. The newsletter is curated between 5-7am each morning, bringing the best of local news to your inbox each morning without ads, clickbait, or hyperbole. Oh, and it’s free. She can be found on X @marissaamayy1