A "mass visit" has been held by protestors concerned about the future of art shows at Inverleith House at the Royal Botanic Garden in Edinburgh.
Around 100 protestors gathered at Inverleith House to re-iterate their anger and dismay over the closure of the site as a full-time contemporary art gallery.
Inverleith House’s closure as a contemporary art gallery last year led to protests and a 10,000 signature strong petition calling for it to stay open.
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The furore, as well as concern at Creative Scotland and the Scottish Government, led to the establishment of the new working group into the future of art at the Gardens, a group which met for the first time last week.
Neil Cooper, theatre critic for The Herald, who has written extensively about the issue, spoke at the protest yesterday, and said: "The last time there was a mass visit was on the final day of the 30th anniversary exhibition, I Still Believe in Miracles, and up until that point, everybody here was able to come down to Inverleith House on a Sunday afternoon and see some of the greatest contemporary art in the world.
"Sadly we can't do that anymore, because the managers of the Garden say that Inverleith House can't wash its face financially as a gallery, as if the House and everything that was shown in it was part of a business.
"With that in mind, I think the managers of the Garden may need pointed out to them that Inverleith House isn't a business.
"It's public property, and for the managers of the Garden to close Inverleith House without notice or public consultation, and to completely ignore the recommendations of a report which has yet to be made public outside of the press is – to be kind – seriously misguided."
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He added: "The purpose of today is to highlight that, and to highlight the sense of disappointment many people feel about having one of the city's greatest artistic assets taken away from them."
This week artists, including Douglas Gordon and Jim Lambie, expressed concerns that the current curator of exhibitions at the Gardens, Paul Nesbitt, is not included in the working group.
Its members include Fiona Bradley, director of the Fruitmarket Gallery, the artist Jacqueline Donachie, Lisa Le Feuvre, the head of sculpture studies at the Henry Moore Institute, Sir John Leighton the director-general of the National Galleries Scotland, Philip Long, director of the V&A Dundee, Dame Seona Reid, Janet Archer, chief executive of Creative Scotland.
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The group is being chaired by Professor Christopher Breward, principal of the Edinburgh College of Art. and also includes Simon Milne, Regius Keeper of the RBGE.
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