Dundee arts centre in running to be named the UK's 'Museum of the Year'

DCA shortlisted for honour in 25th anniversary year

A leading Scottish arts centre is in the running to be named the UK’s best museum in its 25th anniversary year.

Dundee Contemporary Arts, which warned last year that it was at risk of closure over a funding crisis, is now one of the contenders for the £120,000 Art Fund prize, the largest of its kind in the world.

The DCA is one Scotland’s best known venues for showcasing international visual artists, has made the shortlist for the “Museum of the Year” title months after bringing the UK’s Art Night event to Dundee for the first time.

The Dundee Contemporary Arts centre has been open since 1999.

The one-off art show, which was staged across the city, attracted an overall attendance of more than 15,000 and was said to have generated almost £400,000 for the economy.

The £9 million centre, which is home to two art galleries, a two-screen cinema, a print studio, and a hugely-popular cafe-bar.

The DCA also hosted exhibitions encompassing painting, sculpture, moving image and installation by artists Matthew Arthur Williams, Saoirse Amira Anis, Zineb Sedira, Rachel Eulena Williams and Michelle Williams Gamaker in the eligibility period for the prize.

Last year the DCA told a Scottish Parliament inquiry into arts funding that it was grappling with "previously unimaginable financial precarity" due to the impact of the cost of living crisis, rising costs, standstill funding and reduced audiences since the pandemic.

Beth Bate is director of the Dundee Contemporary Arts centre, which has been open since 1999. Picture: Erika Stevenson

The DCA will be up against the Craven Museum in Skipton, North Yorkshire, the Manchester Museum, and National Portrait Gallery and the Young V&A, both based in London, when the winner is announced in July.