Located in the heart of Edinburgh close to Waverley train station, the City Art Centre’s aim is to champion historic and contemporary Scottish visual and applied arts.
Artworks from our Nationally Recognised collection of Scottish art are displayed on a rotating basis. Visitors can also enjoy our richly diverse programme of changing exhibitions, which include historic and modern Scottish painting and photography, as well as contemporary art and craft.
We currently have 3 exhibitions on for you to enjoy: Will Maclean: Points of Departure; National Treasure: The Scottish Modern Arts Association and Incoming: New Acquisitions at the City Art Centre'.
An escalator and lift provide easy access to six floors, and the Centre also houses a great shop on the ground floor. Admission is normally free, although charges apply for some temporary exhibitions. Mimi's Bakehouse is situated on the ground floor, open daily 9am-5pm (last sit ins at 4:30pm) offering coffee, cake and an all day brunch menu. (View a sample menu below or hop over to mimisbakehouse.com)
Explore
The City of Edinburgh’s art collection is one of the finest in Scotland, and includes works by the most important Scottish artists from the 17th century to the present day. It encompasses drawings, prints, photographs and sculpture as well as paintings, and numbers over 4,500 items.
Prints of many of the pieces in our collection can be purchased on ArtUK; below are just a few examples of our most popular images.
It is a richly diverse collection, ranging from civic portraiture to contemporary abstraction. It continues to grow, using a generous bequest left to the City in the 1960s, with a focus on acquiring contemporary work as well as filling historic gaps.
City Art Centre Access Guide
Download our comprehensive access guide to find out how you can get to and around the City Art Centre.
For all accessibility enquiries please contact the venue on:
+ 44 (0) 131 529 3993
museumsandgalleries@edinburgh.gov.uk
Inspiring, astonishing, just perfect. Thank you. Visitor from Switzerland, August 2017

Exhibitions
Events
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The Ring Net’ (1973-1978) by Will Maclean
Lecture at City Art Centre
Thursday 11 August 2022, 2:00pm -
POINTS OF DEPARTURE – IN MUSIC, SONG, VERSE AND STORY
Musical Evening at the City Art Centre
Tuesday 16 August 2022, 7:30pm -
John Henry Lorimer Birthday Celebration Event: Martin Kemp in conversation with Charlotte Lorimer: The living spirit of Kellie Castle and the Lorimer family
Birthday Celebration at the City Art Centre
Thursday 18 August 2022, 2:00pm -
On the Other Side of Sorrow: Moving Forward from the Clearances
Lecture at City Art Centre
Friday 19 August 2022, 2:00pm -
Distant lives: The Earliest Photographs of St Kilda
Lecture at City Art Centre
Tuesday 23 August 2022, 2:00pm -
New Ontologies: The Transformational Art of Will Maclean
Lecture at City Art Centre
Wednesday 28 September 2022, 2:00pm -
‘… a gallery of modern art for Scotland’ - the Scottish Modern Arts Association and the creation of Scotland’s National Gallery of Modern Art
Lecture at City Art Centre
Thursday 29 September 2022, 2:00pm -
Points of Departure / Points of Meeting - Keynote Event
In Conversation with Will Maclean at the City Art Centre
Friday 30 September 2022, 7:00pm -
Noble Intentions: The History of the Scottish Modern Arts Association
Lecture at City Art Centre
Thursday 6 October 2022, 2:00pm -
The Scottish Modern Arts Association and the Nature of Scottish Modernism
Lecture at City Art Centre
Thursday 13 October 2022, 2:00pm -
In Conversation with Ron O’Donnell, Daryl Green and Malcolm Dickson
In association with the exhibition ‘Ron O'Donnell - Edinburgh: A Lost World’
Saturday 10 December 2022, 2:00pm -
Travelling Through Time: A Lost Edinburgh
Gallery Lecture in association with the exhibition ‘Ron O'Donnell - Edinburgh: A Lost World’
Saturday 14 January 2023, 2:00pm -
A Time Travelling Journey
Artist's Tour in association with the exhibition ‘Ron O'Donnell - Edinburgh: A Lost World’
Thursday 19 January 2023, 2:00pm -
The Edinburgh of Deacon Brodie
Gallery Talk in association with the exhibition ‘Auld Reekie Retold’
Friday 20 January 2023, 2:00pm -
The Art of Ron O’Donnell
Talk for Camera Clubs in association with the exhibition ‘Ron O'Donnell - Edinburgh: A Lost World’
Thursday 26 January 2023, 6:00pm -
From Analogue to Digital
Gallery Lecture in association with the exhibition ‘Ron O'Donnell - Edinburgh: A Lost World’
Saturday 28 January 2023, 2:00pm -
Edinburgh: Unique and Unusual Areas of the City
Gallery Lecture in association with the exhibition ‘Ron O'Donnell - Edinburgh: A Lost World’
Thursday 9 February 2023, 2:00pm -
A Lost Edinburgh
Gallery Lecture in association with the exhibition ‘Ron O'Donnell - Edinburgh: A Lost World’
Saturday 18 February 2023, 2:00pm -
Establishments & Emporiums of Edinburgh Past
Gallery Lecture in association with the exhibition ‘Ron O'Donnell - Edinburgh: A Lost World’
Thursday 23 February 2023, 2:00pm