The City Art Centre (CAC) is a public gallery, managed and funded by the City of Edinburgh Council. Previously part of the Royal High School in Edinburgh the gallery has occupied its present building at 2 Market Street since 1980. It is a large exhibition gallery with six exhibition spaces.

CAC organises and delivers a programme of national and international temporary exhibitions. It attracts a broad audience of Edinburgh residents and visitors to the City from the rest of Scotland, the UK and abroad.

Its active and diverse programme focuses on national and international exhibitions of historical, modern and contemporary art. These shows are either hired in from other galleries/museums or organised by CAC. Publications are produced when appropriate. Other exhibitions exploring aspects of architecture, craft and material culture are also part of the schedule.

The gallery also houses the City’s collection of 19th- and 20th-century Scottish art, which is displayed through temporary shows dealing with particular themes or type of work. Part of CAC’s remit is to organise a touring programme, with exhibitions largely selected from the collection. A designated education floor forms part of the building, with education and outreach work an important function of the organisation.

CAC also operates the Travelling Gallery, a self-contained mobile art gallery touring contemporary work throughout Scotland.

CAC has a strong international profile, with a number of projects and exhibition exchanges taking place with overseas galleries, museums and other organisations each year. There are a number of active links with Edinburgh’s twinning partners, eg Munich, Kiev, Florence and Xian. Activities include major exhibitions and artist exchanges/residencies.

CAC receives many proposals for exhibitions and other projects. They are also interested to receive information from international artists and groups. These are considered at regular curatorial meetings.