Dundee Contemporary Arts is celebrating 25 years as a cultural beacon at the heart of its city. Located on Perth Road, close to the centre of Dundee, it opened on March 19, 1999, with the aim of having local, national and international reach. It was also hoped the centre would anchor a flourishing cultural quarter with Dundee Rep located nearby on Tay Square, and Duncan Of Jordanstone College Of Art & Design further up the road.

The site was a derelict garage frequented by skateboarders that was reimagined by Edinburgh-based Richard Murphy Architects. There was also the task of bringing together pre-existing elements such as a cinema (then located at the city’s Central Library) and Dundee Printmakers Workshop, merging them with new exhibitions and events spaces, a cafe/bar and offices. A quarter of a century on, DCA provides a varied programme of exhibitions, films and learning as well as a busy print studio for artists. It remains at the heart of Dundee’s cultural regeneration as the development of its waterfront continues, with V&A Dundee (opened in 2018) as its main attraction, and plans afoot for the Eden Project to develop a nearby former gasworks site.

As 25th anniversary celebrations got underway, it was announced the centre had been shortlisted in the 2024 Art Fund Museum Of The Year. The only Scottish institution to feature, the title was won in July by London’s Young V&A. ‘It was and will always be an incredible accolade for the organisation,’ says DCA director Beth Bate, who joined in 2016. ‘It meant so much to the staff here, and it meant so much to our audiences and funders as well, to be recognised for the quality of the work and the impact that we do.’

With Scotland’s arts funding in crisis, DCA (along with hundreds of organisations) awaits the outcome of its Creative Scotland Multi-Year Funding Programme application in October, which will detail funding provisions for 2025–2028. ‘Every organisation is going to be expected to cut their cloth accordingly,’ Bate explains. ‘We’re a very prudent organisation and we take our financial planning very seriously. Like everybody else in the same boat, we wait and see the outcome and we’ll be able to confirm our plans after that.’ 

She recalls that it was an exciting time to arrive in Dundee when joining DCA, as the anticipation of V&A Dundee was growing. Bate saw it as an opportunity to support and profile DCA’s four programme areas: exhibitions, cinema, print studio and learning. ‘One of the things that struck me when I moved to Dundee was how beloved DCA is to so many people in the city, but also from further afield, right the way across Scotland and further down south. And so the opportunity to take over and lead an organisation which people already have huge ownership and love for, is a massive privilege. Our job really is to make sure we continue to earn that trust.’

Bate reflects on a civic reception to celebrate DCA’s big birthday held at the City Chambers in March. ‘We heard from two younger people who had been involved with DCA and some of our learning and engagement programmes, our cinema projects and also the print studio, since they were teens. They spoke so brilliantly and passionately about the impact DCA has had on their lives and their careers.’

Looking to the future, Bate says that their four key programme areas will always be central to what they do. ‘But we do have ambitions to extend into the lower two floors of DCA. We’ve long been talking about the benefits that a third cinema screen would bring to DCA and to our audiences, and the additional space that we would have for events, and for hires and exhibitions work.’

Steve Grimmond became DCA’s new chair of trustees in the summer. He has held chief and senior executive roles in some of the UK’s largest local authorities and led on the DCA development in the 1990s while working as policy planning manager at Dundee City Council. ‘It’s a great time to become chair of the board of DCA,’ he says. ‘It feels like the organisation is on a bit of a creative high in terms of the quality and breadth and reach of the work that it presents and engages with, but it's also quite a precarious time in terms of the financial position for DCA.’

Grimmond is excited about the challenge ahead to ensure DCA can maintain the quality of what it produces in a way that’s sustainable for the organisation. In the mid 90s, he was tasked with pulling together an arts strategy for Dundee. The idea for DCA emerged from a common desire for economic and cultural regeneration.

Grimmond says the location for the £9m centre was chosen from around 40 potential sites across the city. Twenty-five years on, Richard Murphy Architects’ open plan, modern design still seems fresh. He recalls the hope that this new arts centre would become a beacon for Dundee’s cultural quarter and ‘act as both a social space that could bring people together as well as being a space for arts and creativity. I’m a Dundonian, and it’s hard to think of it not being there now. It does feel like it became this focal point for the cultural life of the city and lifted ambition across the board.’

Clive Gillman, now director of creative industries at Creative Scotland, was DCA director from 2005 to 2015. He came to his role at a ‘tricky’ point, when initial funding for the centre was coming to an end and a case had to be made that DCA was cementing itself as a key part of the city’s cultural landscape. ‘It was in its early days and still working out its relationship with the city, which is always going to be an interesting challenge,’ Gillman explains. Soon after, Dundee was laying out plans to redevelop the city’s waterfront, proposing an offshoot of the V&A as its central attraction. ‘DCA allowed the city to see how it could conceive of something and then follow it through and deliver something brand new.’ He later sat on the architectural selection panel for V&A Dundee, which was won in 2010 by Japanese architect Kengo Kuma.

His memories of a decade as DCA director are many, but what left an impact were exhibitions by artists such as Thomas Hirschhorn, Heather Phillipson, Dash N’ Dem and DJCAD graduates such as Scott Myles, and Jane and Louise Wilson, as well as festival Kill Your Timid Notion. ‘There were so many exhibitions that were really powerful and we weren’t sure whether or not we would achieve what we wanted them to do. But you take the risk, put them on and then you see this stuff happening that is so rich.’

The hard work of staff, many of whom have been with the organisation for years, has also been key to DCA’s success. Exhibitions manager Adrian Murray has been there in various roles for almost 17 years. ‘I remember when the building first opened, I couldn’t believe that this was now on our doorstep.’ he says. His favourite moment was meeting his wife while setting up a Ruth Ewan exhibition. ‘We were paired together to fix and load a jukebox.’

Chief projectionist Ian Banks has been with DCA since day one. He recalls experimental music, sound, film and moving image festival Kill Your Timid Notion (2003–2010). ‘I prefer to be behind the scenes, hence my job, but the projection team were on stage with bands, lacing up and operating the projectors and part of the action. I was well out of my comfort zone: terrifying, but so rewarding!’

Sarah Derrick, head of learning has also been with the organisation for 25 years. ‘Working here is constantly stimulating, challenging and rewarding. DCA makes art and visual culture relevant and accessible. I hope that our government actually recognises the value of cultural organisations like DCA and secures their ongoing success for future children and their families.’

To find out what's on at the DCA, visit their website.