THE Beacon Arts Centre in Greenock has been hailed as a ‘stunning, world-class’ venue by an acclaimed Scottish painter.

Michael Clarence's show, titled ‘Depending on how you paint your vegetables’, closed at the venue on January 6 after a three-month run.

Now he has poured praise on the ‘inspiring’ setting and wants more artists and members of the public to be able to utilise its studio space.

Michael, who is currently the Freelands Foundation Painting Fellow at the University of Brighton, said he wanted to thank the team at the waterfront venue for being 'so supportive and hospitable'.

Greenock Telegraph:

He added: “The Beacon Arts Centre is in a beautiful location, sitting on the banks of the River Clyde in Greenock.

“A town with a rich industrial past, it now seems to struggle with regeneration and new identity as so many post-industrial towns in Scotland do.

“The Beacon is only 30 minutes from Glasgow on the train and has stunning world-class spaces which I believe should be opened up to artists and creatives of all disciplines and background and experienced by the public.”

Michael’s show was brought to the Beacon by guest curator Fraser Taylor – an honorary professor at Glasgow School of Art.

Fraser said: “Beacon Arts Centre presents a diverse and inclusive visual arts exhibition program which engages with local and national communities.

“There is a focus on exhibiting artists of all levels of experience who create work that is vibrant and relevant and prompts questions allowing us to view the world differently.”

Lesley Davidson, co-director of the Beacon, added: “Michael’s show was one of my personal highlights of out tenth anniversary year, and we were thrilled that he was able to bring his paintings to Beacon.

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“We are very proud of our year-round programme of art created by local, national and international artists.

“Working with Fraser is a huge draw to artists and we are delighted to be able to offer free exhibitions to the community of Inverclyde and beyond.”

The Beacon’s current show, Bringing the World In, displays work produced by patients undergoing renal dialysis treatment at Inverclyde Royal Hospital.

The charity Art in Hospital worked with the patients over a four month spell to help them express their creativity.