AN art exhibition in Renfrewshire has raised £25,000 for a local hospice celebrating its 40th anniversary this year.
The annual event, organised by Accord Hospice, took place last month at The Art Department, a large scale exhibition space in The Paisley Centre.
It was the hospice's largest exhibition yet, showcasing over 500 paintings and other forms of art, such as glassware and pottery.
Art lovers of all ages came to speak to volunteers about the exhibition and the hospice's work, with some paintings now travelling as far as Australia.
David McFadden, fundraising and communications manager at Accord Hospice, said: "Weare very thankful to each artists who contributed to the event and to every person who came to support by purchasing a painting or raffle ticket and of course to our amazing volunteers who supported the event from start to finish.
"Special thanks to our sponsors Paisley First for their contributions to the event, alongside our new venue The Art Department - who looked after us all very well.
"Without all of this support, we wouldn't be able to raise such a significant amount of funds for the patients and families in the care of the hospice, thank you for everything."
Colette Cardosi, chair of Paisley First, said: "We were delighted to help Accord Hospice bring their annual art exhibition to Paisley town centre as they celebrate their 40th anniversary.
"Accord Hospice is held dear by many locals and it was great to see the local community turn up to support this year's exhibition in the heart of the town centre with some amazing artworks on display.
"With this being the hospice's 40th anniversary we wanted to try something different and experimented with a new form of fundraising – an online auction.
"With over 75 artists participating in the 'Mystery Masterpiece' auction, art lovers from all over the world placed bids on postcard sized canvases that they liked on a website accessible via link or QR code, the mystery of the auction was that they wouldn't find out the artists name until they won it at auction.
"This was a great success, raising over £2,500 alone for the hospice."
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