Unabashedly Scottish with something for everyone, The Big Art Show is Paisley’s biggest ever open-art exhibition. The Art Department (formerly Allders Department Store) in The Paisley Centre shopping complex is housing almost a thousand pieces by communities and artists of all ages and techniques. The open space becomes a well-lit window to hundreds of perspectives, expressions and styles from local art-makers and collectives.

^{Picture: Sam Kilday, Untitled Circles Blue}

Many of the works showcased in Scotland’s biggest town paint dreamy pictures of dreary Glasgow streets and sights that most of us are familiar with. ‘The Glasgow Underground’ by Ruaraidh Berry depicts the pale greenish tunnel of Cowcaddens subway station in all its creepy liminal glory. Kim Appleton’s ‘Hydro & Armadillo’ shows the two unmistakably horrid metal hunks of Glasgow’s iconic events venues, as their reflections swim in the icy night-time blue of the Clyde. Noticeable from the exhibition’s display window on Causeyside Street is ‘The Devil’s Pulpit’ by Nancy Sheppard. Anyone who’s visited Finnich Glen will be familiar with the orangey-red sandstone and intense greenery of the hidden Stirlingshire gorge, which Sheppard captures alluringly with ink and acrylic. 

As well as pieces unique to this area, the show is a textured and energetic burst of any and all types of art, including paint, photography, digital art, music, and crochet. Most of the works are available to buy, with a 12-page price list of pieces to be found at the show’s helpdesk. With its enormous volume of works and variety of flavours and tastes, this vibrant collection is well worth a wander. From still-life paintings of Baxters Scotch Broth (Melissa Hugo’s ‘Soup II, There’s Money In Soup’) to community-made collages of paper hands (Gateway Autism Support’s ‘Take My Hand’), The Big Art Show presents art as an inclusive and accessible means to create joy. 

The Art Department, Paisley, until Saturday 26 November.