Major boost to making Scotland’s art even more accessible

By John Freeman on January 16, 2026 • ( 0 )

The Scottish Government has committed £56 million in anchor funding to help to create The Art Works, a new, free-to-visit experience in North Edinburgh – a state-of-the-art home for Scotland’s art. This very welcome funding allows National Galleries of Scotland to proceed with confidence and continue to seek philanthropic donations to fully fund the build.

Once open you will be able to explore over 130,000 works of art, pop in for a cup of tea or relax in the grounds – it will be yours to discover. The Art Works helps us to deliver on our commitment to look after the nation’s collection of treasured artworks
for years to come.

“The new building will allow us to increase the amount of artworks which can be loaned to different parts of Scotland and beyond too,” say NLS. “As 85% of our visitors say their time in one of the galleries has a positive impact on their wellbeing, we hope sharing the artworks more widely will benefit even more people.

Forming part of the Granton Waterfront development, The Art Works is an important, promised investment in North Edinburgh. When complete, it will be one key feature building within a larger complex of what will be known as the National Collections Hub.

• Find out more about The Art Works project here

About the Author
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John Freeman

John is the founder of downthetubes, launched in 1998. He is a comics and magazine editor, writer, and Press Officer for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He also runs Crucible Comic Press.

Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine and Overkill for Marvel UK, Babylon 5 Magazine, Star Trek Magazine, and its successor, Star Trek Explorer, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics; and has edited several comic collections and graphic novels, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”, and Hancock: The Lad Himself, by Stephen Walsh and Keith Page.

He’s the writer of comics such as Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs”, with Dave Hailwood.