Glasgow’s Centre for Contemporary Arts has announced plans to temporarily close in December to restructure and recover after a period of “significant financial uncertainty”.

The venue, which hosts year-round contemporary arts exhibitions, events and films, and is a registered charity, will close from December to March, in a bid to ensure financial recovery.

In a statement, the charity said its financial position had become “increasingly challenging” over recent months and it was “facing a period of significant financial uncertainty”. 

The temporary closure would allow the charity to “focus on restructuring and ensuring financial recovery”, it said.

The charity will continue to operate as normal until December and said it was exploring ways to continue its community initiatives during the closure. 

It added that it was also exploring the possibility of keeping its in-house bar, Third Eye, open to the public, which the charity said directly contributed to its creative programmes and the upkeep of its building in Sauchiehall Street, Glasgow.

A spokesperson for CCA said: “In recent weeks, CCA has learned that our financial position, already under strain, is no longer viable, placing the organisation in unprecedented financial precarity.

“Despite our best efforts to continue delivering our programme of exhibitions and events, the strain on our financial model has become unsustainable.”

The spokesperson said that the closure came after the charity faced a series of “profound challenges” in recent years, saying: “The devastating fires at our neighbours, Glasgow School of Art, the extended closures due to the Covid-19 pandemic, and the loss of our café-bar tenants have all severely impacted our financial stability.”

The CCA’s 2022/23 accounts mention a “staff dispute” within its subcontracted café, which had a “serious knock-on effect” on the charity by “dramatically reducing attendance” at its events from early March last year. 

The accounts say this resulted in the board terminating its contract with its subcontracted café, Saramago, in early April 2023. It was able to recruit a new operator for the space, turning it into Third Eye. 

Third Sector understands that the charity has a total of 52 staff and also employs a pool of freelancers. 

When asked whether any redundancies would be made as a result of the closure and what would happen to retained staff during this period, the charity declined to comment. 

The charity also declined to give details about whether it would continue to operate its venue in Sauchiehall Street during this period. CCA’s 2022/23 accounts show this venue is owned by the grantmaker Creative Scotland and use of the space was donated to the charity.

A spokesperson for CCA said: “We are currently in an active process of consultation with our staff team, programme partners and external funders. As such, we are not in a position to confirm or finalise any answers to these questions.”

According to its latest accounts, the charity recorded a total income of £1.4m and expenditure of nearly £1.6m during the financial year to the end of March 2023.