Though DCA receives several grants from public bodies, including this year £260,000 from Dundee City Council, an independent assessment in 2003 showed its presence in the city has generated jobs and boosted the local economy by almost £4 million each year.

Since then, it has continued to go from strength to strength, with more than 300,000 visitors last year.

Any murmurs of discontent about spending council tax money “on a few elite art lovers” can be quickly dispatched, as the centre prides itself on its contacts with the local community.

“All the public money that comes in to DCA goes totally on the provision of the cultural activities that go on here,” said Clive.

Scottish Arts Council and local authority grants also go towards supporting the centre’s highly successful exhibitions and education programme.

As well as serving the local population and attracting visitors, the centre is helping to create an atmosphere that makes Dundee an attractive option for prospective residents.

“I met a leading bioscientist at a Go Dundee event, and he said that he had worked in Paris and the States and was then invited to come to Dundee,” explained Clive. “He and his wife, who is French, were walking up and down Perth Road to get a feel of the place. They went past DCA, which had a French language film playing, and she said, ‘This is a place I can live’.

“DCA offers a quality of experience unlike anything in a lot of other cities. What we have here is something very special that interests visitors and has something to offer to the people in the city.”