See also Lyth Arts Centre for more information

Lyth Arts Centre are a membership lead, non-profit making charitable organisation supported financially by core funding from the Scottish Arts Council and revenue funding from the Highland Council.

Lyth Arts Centre, a former village school, is a small-scale arts venue near John O' Groats in the far North of Scotland. It is set in the middle of the county of Caithness, a flat agricultural plain beyond the Highlands with a population of 28,000 concentrated in a 30 mile triangle. The nearest towns are Wick (10 miles) and Thurso (15 miles). It is 116 miles north of Inverness and 266 miles north of Edinburgh.

It was founded in 1977 by its previous director, William Wilson and has consistently aimed at promoting work of the highest standard. Most of the programme is devoted to presenting professional artists and performers from other parts of the country but the centre also acts as a stepping off point for local artistic endeavour. Towards this end, the centre maintains links with other arts promoters all over Britain and is actively involved with tours, both of exhibitions, music groups and stage productions. It has re-opened in May 2004 after a major 2-year refurbishment.

Each year the centre presents one exhibition programme of contemporary fine art which is set up in late June and runs daily throughout July and August. The entire building and adjacent outdoor spaces are used allowing for up to six exhibitions to be shown simultaneously. The programme is devised primarily for the local community and the centre organises group visits for schools and other local organisations. The exhibitions are also seen by many of the tourists who visit the area during the summer. Most of the programme attempts to encapsulate recent developments in the British art world and, through interpretation, make them accessible to the general public. The foyer area out with the summer exhibitions is devoted to showing a permanent collection which features work that has some bearing on the north of Scotland. This is on show throughout March to December and is seen by visitors attending performances throughout the season.