CCA

Known in the 70s and 80s as the Third Eye Centre, the CCA is the longstanding Sauchiehall Street home of cutting-edge creativity. Here you'll find experimental film, video, sound and contemporary music, as well as the more traditional disciplines of painting, photography and sculpture.

 

The Grade A listed building, designed by Alexander "Greek" Thompson, re-opened in 2001 after a £10.5 million refurbishment. It sprang back to life as a chic and airy gallery with five spacious exhibition and performance rooms surrounding a high-ceilinged restaurant and bar – a popular meeting place ever since.

 

It's here the annual Beck's Futures exhibition has made its Glasgow home, as have students from the neighbouring Glasgow School of Art and all manner of conceptual and performance artists. Established names to have exhibited include Glasgow favourites Ross Sinclair, Toby Paterson and Kenny Hunter.

 

The small cinema specialises in films you won't see at your local multiplex. The programme typically embraces short films by women directors, seasons by acclaimed European masters and the work of independent documentary makers.

 

Believing that the avant-garde needn't be exclusive, the Centre for Contemporary Arts, to give it its full title, aims to be as welcoming as possible. Children can get creative with regular Saturday morning Kids Club workshops based on the local, national and international artists who are exhibiting at the time. Their parents might pick up something unusual in the monthly book fair, while those in more of a party frame of mind will appreciate the weekend DJs pumping up the volume in the bar.