The City Art Centre is part of the Museums & Galleries Edinburgh, which sits under the Culture directorate of the City of Edinburgh Council. The City Art Centre has a collection which include historic and modern Scottish painting and photography, as well as contemporary art and craft. It is an exhibition based venue with no permanent displays.
The City Art Centre is home to the City of Edinburgh's Recognised collection of Scottish Art. Edinburgh's fine art collection is approximately 4,800 pieces of Scottish work in a variety of mediums. Artists such Fergusson, Eardley, Paolozzi are represented in the collection as well as many other Edinburgh based and Scottish artists. Artists are represented dating from the 17th century to the present day.