Response to CCA Closure

The Scottish Artists Union is deeply concerned by the unexpected liquidation of the Centre for Contemporary Arts (CCA), Glasgow, and the immediate cessation of its operations. Our foremost solidarity is with the workers, freelancers, artists, tenants and communities whose livelihoods, practices and futures have been placed at risk by this collapse.  

For decades, CCA has been a cornerstone of Scotland’s contemporary art ecology  -  a vital site of production, presentation, experimentation, learning, debate and organising. The CCA has also been internationally recognised and valued for its ground-breaking curation and programming. Therefore, this is not only a loss for Scotland, but also a loss to the international arts community, and Scotland’s reputation abroad.  The loss of the CCA is not simply the failure of one organisation; it represents a significant rupture in an already fragile cultural infrastructure, and artists and cultural workers are bearing the impacts most acutely. This moment demands accountability. CCA’s liquidation was preceded by systemic failures in governance and risk management, that left workers and freelancers carrying the risks of decisions taken without adequate oversight or protection.  

At times of institutional breakdown, it is essential to be clear about where risk and responsibility fall. Cultural workers and freelancers must not be treated as collateral damage, absorbing the economic and professional consequences of organisational and governance failure over which they had no control. Precarity in the arts is not inevitable; it is the result of political and structural choices.

It is appalling that one of Creative Scotland’s leading Regularly Funded Organisations (RFOs) was so lacking in financial oversight. As Scotland’s national arts funder and the owner of the CCA building, Creative Scotland has both the power and the responsibility to determine what happens next. Legal complexity cannot be used to evade the public, ethical and policy obligations to act promptly that come with managing public funding and publicly owned cultural assets.

Creative Scotland’s stated commitment to Fair Work principles - as reflected in its funding guidance and policy frameworks - requires that workers’ rights, livelihoods and dignity are central to decision-making. Fair Work cannot be a conditional aspiration in times of stability; it must guide responses in times of crisis.

We call on Creative Scotland and relevant partners to act promptly, transparently and accountably to:  

• Provide immediate support, clarity and security for all affected workers and freelancers by protecting jobs where possible, affirming entitlements and redundancy alternatives, and ensuring all contractual and fee commitments are honoured. If redundancies are unavoidable, it is vital that Creative Scotland intervenes to make sure that the workers receive the redundancy pay that they are owed.  
• Ensure the CCA building remains in cultural use while long-term solutions are developed, keeping the space open and accessible rather than closed or inactive, in recognition of its value to the sector.  
• Engage in transparent, collaborative and sustained dialogue with artists, workers, trade unions and communities in shaping the future of the site and its cultural function.  

Scotland’s cultural sector relies on stable arts infrastructure and support systems that centre the rights, security and agency of its workforce. The closure of CCA underscores the urgent need for funding and policy frameworks that protect cultural spaces and the people who make them possible.   


Solidarity to the workers and their families.