The Galleries .
The Power of Contemporary Art
Contemporary art offers new ways to explore the world around us. It can challenge familiar ideas, bring overlooked stories into view and invite us to see things differently. The Centre for Contemporary Art aims to present ambitious exhibitions. The programme is intended to bring together different approaches, perspectives and ideas, connecting audiences with work from across the UK and internationally. From emerging voices to artists exploring new directions in their practice, it will offer opportunities to discover work, engage with current questions and explore the ideas shaping contemporary culture. Whether encountering an artist for the first time or exploring a familiar practice in a new way, visitors will be invited to look closer, ask questions and discover something unexpected.
Liz West, Our Spectral Vision. Part of Future Tense: Art in the Age of Transformation, 2025.
A New Multidisciplinary Space
Across three gallery spaces, the Centre for Contemporary Art’s developing vision includes: Ambitious exhibitions featuring contemporary artists, new work and ideas; Immersive experiences bringing together art, moving image, sound and digital creativity; A platform for emerging talents to share their work and reach new audiences; Opportunities for learning, participation and creative exchange; Connections between art, technology, education and the wider creative industries; Space for learning and making, including planned Studio Membership opportunities for 15–20 artists to develop their creative practice.
Brendan Dawes, Nothing Can Ever Be The Same. Finalist for the Aesthetica Art Prize 2025.
Three Distinct Spaces .
The Centre for Contemporary Art is being developed around three gallery spaces. Together, they create a varied programme that connects different forms of artistic practice and gives audiences multiple ways to experience contemporary culture. The names, layouts and final uses of these spaces should be confirmed as the project develops.
Main Exhibition Galleries
The main exhibition spaces will be dedicated to contemporary art and ideas, with a programme intended to bring together artists and perspectives from across the UK and internationally. Exhibitions will offer opportunities to discover new work, engage with current questions and explore the practices shaping contemporary culture. The ambition is to establish a programme with the scope to introduce audiences to significant artistic conversations, emerging voices and fresh perspectives from different cultural contexts. The aim is to create an environment in which audiences can encounter work that surprises, challenges and inspires.
Immersive Media Gallery
The Immersive Media Arts Gallery is intended to present work that expands the possibilities of art through moving image, sound, digital tools and immersive environments. York’s identity as a UNESCO City of Media Arts provides a distinctive context for this work. The gallery’s ambition, however, reaches into the wider international field of artists exploring the relationship between creativity, technology and experience. It aims to connect audiences with new artistic approaches and create opportunities to experience work that challenges traditional boundaries between artwork, environment and viewer.
New Talent Gallery
Supporting creative talent is central to Aesthetica’s work and to the Centre for Contemporary Art’s ambition. The New Talent Gallery is intended to provide a platform for emerging artists and new creative voices, helping them share their work, reach audiences and participate in wider cultural conversations. Building on Aesthetica’s experience of championing artists, the gallery aims to create opportunities for new practices to be discovered and for creative talent to develop connections beyond its immediate surroundings. Final gallery arrangements and programme commitments remain subject to confirmation.
Immersive Media Arts
What happens when art moves beyond the traditional gallery experience? Immersive media arts bring together moving image, sound, digital tools and environments to create new forms of experience. They invite audiences to look, listen, participate and engage from different perspectives. The Centre for Contemporary Art aims to create a distinctive platform for artists exploring the relationship between creativity, technology and experience. York's identity as a UNESCO City of Media Arts provides an important local context, while the field itself connects to a wider international conversation. From digital experimentation to immersive environments, the ambition is to present work that expands expectations, connects disciplines and explores what contemporary art can become.
Alexej Sachov, Chronicles of an Emerging Diversity. Finalist for the Aesthetica Art Prize 2024.
The Future Programme
The Centre for Contemporary Art will bring audiences into contact with ideas reflecting the world around us. Its developing programme aims to create opportunities to encounter emerging talent, explore international perspectives and engage with work that challenges expectations. With a national and international outlook, the gallery will seek to bring different artistic practices and cultural perspectives into dialogue, creating new opportunities for discovery and exchange. Exhibitions and experiences will be developed as the project progresses. Programme announcements will follow as plans are confirmed.
Arthur Kleinjan, Above Us Only Sky. Winner of the Aesthetica Art Prize 2021.
Help Us Bring the Centre to Life .
The Centre for Contemporary Art is progressing plans for a £1.9 million investment. We are now seeking the final £250,000 to help bring this ambitious new cultural destination to life. A historic building. Three ambitious galleries. A new home for contemporary art and immersive experiences. Be part of the beginning.
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