About
Scottish Contemporary Art Network (SCAN) is the member-led support network for contemporary art in Scotland. Founded in 2012 by the visual arts sector, we are still led by the sector today through member insights, partnerships and governance. Our vision is of a Scotland where everyone has the right and the opportunity to experience the benefits of contemporary art.
Our membership comprises over 350 organisational and individual members working in the contemporary art sector across all areas of Scotland. Our organisational members are galleries, community organisations and venues, together with the artist-run initiatives, agencies, workspaces and production facilities that support artists to pursue their livelihoods. Our individual members are artists, art workers, curators, researchers, writers, and educators. All our members are rooted in communities both rural and urban, from coastal villages to major cities. Become part of the SCAN community today by becoming a member.
Through our projects, activity and resources, SCAN fulfils a crucial role in the contemporary art ecosystem. We facilitate connections between our members, ensuring peer-learning, resilience and community across networks of interest and locality.
Our programme:
SCAN has a vibrant year-round programme for members, and the wider arts and cultural sector, focusing on learning and development, campaigning and convening. Our four strategic areas:
- Connect: Artists and arts workers are connected, collaborative, and resourced well through our membership learning and development programme. Includes events such as Gatherings and our flagship event SCAN Summit.
- Champion: SCAN continue to raise awareness of the vital contribution that the contemporary art sector contributes to Scottish civic and economic life with key stakeholders, including Scottish and UK governments.
- Cultivate: Building equity, care, collaboration and peer support in the sector through action research projects ‘by’ and ‘for’ specific visual arts communities.
- Common Good: Critical dialogues for exploring positive future(s) for art, culture and society. Supporting critical thinking and new ways of working around change, complexity, care and ethics. Previously ‘Create Capacity for Change’ this strand is re-launching late-2026.
SCAN has a long-standing role in the Scottish visual arts as a supporter, convenor, and critical friend. In 2017, SCAN launched the first Visual Arts Manifesto with Engage Scotland and SAU. It was ahead of its time, championing fair work, equity and climate as intersecting issues within the arts and this approach is still central to our ways of working today. Read SCAN’s institutional policies, constitution, accounts and AGM papers
SCAN is a not-for-profit charitable organisation with a small team based in Glasgow, Fife and Inverness, who work alongside a range of collaborators and freelancers. The majority of our Board is made up of SCAN members who are artists or who work within the contemporary visual arts bringing a wide range of expertise and significant governance experience to the organisation.