Art on show again in bid to raise thousands for hospice

The 12th Leeds Art Exhibition and Sale, which is held each autumn to raise funds for St Gemma’s Hospice, will feature more than 700 different exhibits.

Ranging from modern and contemporary to traditional, a percentage of the sales from the artwork will go to the hospice in Moortown, which has raised more than £160,000 through the event since it was first held.

Both professional and up-and-coming artists will feature in the exhibition, which is open for four days from next Thursday, closing at 4pm on Sunday, October 28.

Event manager Fran Shilton said: “Whatever the reason, buying art is fun, invigorating and makes a great addition to any home, office or business.”

Entry to the event costs £3 and includes a souvenir brochure, with hot drinks and refreshments on sale at the on-site art cafe. Prices for the artworks on show range from £30 to £700, with a pop-up gift shop open on the Saturday and Sunday selling Christmas gift ideas and homeware.

The art exhibition is open from October 25 until October 27 between 10am and 6pm; and from 10am until 4pm on October 28.

The hospice will be hoping to repeat the success of 2011’s event, when renowned Yorkshire artist Ashley Jackson donated 100 per cent of the profits from two watercolours.

The original, signed paintings helped to raise a total of £22,000 for the hospice, which is the largest hospice in Yorkshire and one of the largest in England.

The care it provides is free of charge to patients and their families, so St Gemma’s relies on donations and various fundraising initiatives in the community.

The art exhibition is one of its biggest fundraisers, with the hospice also hoping for a major boost tomorrow when it holds its annual ‘Jail and Bail’ event.

A group of businessmen and women, including the hospice’s chief executive Kerry Jackson, will be ‘arrested’ by police officers and locked in the old Victorian cells under Leeds Town Hall for various ‘crimes’ committed against their colleagues and families.

The ‘prisoners’ will then have to ring around their contacts and collect at least £500 in ‘bail money’ before they are freed.