An ‘art sale like no other’ happened in Shrewsbury at the weekend – with people camping out overnight to buy paintings.
The Soden Collection in Wyle Cop, a leading contemporary gallery, hosted the region’s first ‘Secret Artist Sale’ in aid of charity and declared the event a huge success.
“We were amazed by the response to the Secret Artist Sale – not only did people queue for hours to be part of it, we managed to raised over £8,000 for charity, exceeding all our expectations,” said Jonathan Soden of the gallery, who organised the weekend with Tina Boyle and Jocelyne Fildes.
The event featured around 120 pieces of original art contributed from international, national, local and emerging artists and raised money for four good causes: Breast Cancer Now, The Samaritans, Trees for Shropshire and Alzheimer’s Society.
“All the work was a standard size and all for sale at £50 so this was a fantastic opportunity for people to acquire original paintings by some outstanding artists such as Halima Cassell MBE, Philip Sutton RA, The Doodle Boy and Matt Sewell for a superb price.
“We want to thank all the artists who kindly contributed and all the many customers who queued up. Even though some of them were there for hours and hours there was a great atmosphere and people appreciated it when we served refreshments, including bacon baps. I don’t think Wyle Cop has ever seen anything like it!
“The sale opened at 10am and we sold out in just over an hour. The success was overwhelming and we are already receiving offers of artwork for next year so we hope to make this an annual event in Shrewsbury,” Jonathan added.
Emma and James Alexander, who camped out overnight with youngsters Phoebe and Oscar, said it had all been worthwhile.
“We got the paintings we wanted so are really pleased,” James commented.
Shropshire Live is regulated by 