Paper Records of the Centre for Contemporary Arts
- Reference:GB 2978 CCA/1
- Dates of Creation:1st Jan 1992 - ongoing
- Name of Creator:
- Language of Material:English
- Physical Description:42 Bankers Boxes and 14 Half Size Boxes comprising administrative documents correspondence reports and ephemera of events related to the Centre for Contemporary Arts (CCA). Some photos slides and transparencies
Scope and Content
The collection is related to administrative organisation of the visual art exhibition, live music, theatre and performance art program by the CCA in the period between its opening in 1991 until 2012. Records from 2007 until 2012 are incomplete and until the present period as they remain in use. It is primarily made up of paper records but contains a number of exhibition marketing ephemera such as brochures and flyers and occasional slides, photographs and transparencies. The paper records consist of typed correspondence and printed copies of emails, copies of contracts, draft marketing material, budgets, notes and board meeting minutes and agendas, directors reports, business plans and development reports. The collection also includes project officer documents, blue prints and contracts for the 1999-2000 refurbishment project by Page & Park Architects, Glasgow.
Administrative / Biographical History
The venue has had four directors in its history: Jo Beddoe, Penny Rae, Graham MacKenzie and Francis McKee. The 1990s saw a programme bristling with energy and excitement. A challenging live art programme welcomed Ron Athey and Goat Island, as well as a series of adventurous and often provocative exhibitions such as Bad Girls and Slip of the Tongue, Janine Antoni's first solo show. In 1994, CCA presented New Art in Scotland, by Douglas Gordon, Jane Lee and Nicola White. Key emerging artists presented in this show included Nathan Coley, Jacqueline Donachie, Louise Hopkins, Carol Rhodes, Richard Wright and David Shrigley. Ross Sinclair's Real Life Rocky Mountain and The Persistence of Painting – helped to confirm the breadth of the nineties art scene in Glasgow.
By the mid-1990s, the building – purchased in the early 1970s and heavily used by both The Third Eye Centre and CCA – was in need of repair. CCA received a lottery grant to redevelop and expand the venue to include the villa on Scott Street. CCA moved to the McLellan Galleries for two years while the building was renovated by Page\Park architects. In 2001 the new space opened to the public, with a party which included Jarvis Cocker DJing, a set by Suicide and a new commission by Cryptic. Now home to a spectrum of cultural tenants as well as a café, bar and cinema, 350 Sauchiehall Street entered a new era.
In 2006, CCA underwent a profound cultural shift, deciding to pursue a more open curatorial policy. This open source approach encourages artists and organisations to present their own programs in CCA. Today, that policy produces a livelier and more varied program that offers a new kind of accessibility to audiences, drawing on the spirit of The Third Eye Centre and the early history of CCA.
Arrangement
The collection series has been arranged into nine sub-series which represent the main functions and departments of the CCA; Corporate, Programme, Education, Marketing, Management, Cultural Tenants, Director, Building and Development
Access Information
The CCA Archive is open to all researchers including the CCA's staff and external researchers including members of the general public, subject to proof of identification and acceptance of the Reading Room General Rules and Access Policy.
The CCA Archive Reading Room is accessible by appointment only. To access the collection please contact archive@cca-glasgow.com
Archivist's Note
Detailed catalogue compiled by Carrie Skinner between November 2013 and May 2013. Collection Level Description created by Carrie Skinner July 2013. Additional material was added in December 2013 followed by a complete re-catalogue by Carrie Skinner between January-May 2014. Digitalisation and cataloguing of CCA1/CORP selected exhibition information compiled by Paola Rivera Joglar and Hannah McIntosh. CLD revised by Kristen Nelson in June 2022.
Custodial History
Records of the CCA / Third Eye Centre – press / misc / publications / brochures deposited Glasgow City Archives c.2001. Records of Centre for Contemporary Arts, Exhibition and project records, correspondence and event files, slides and publicity information, 1993-2005, deposited Glasgow City Archives 2006. All CCA records were returned to the custody of CCA in 2012. Records of CCA Board of Governors 1992-2000 donated by Trevor Davies to CCA May 2013.
Corporate Names