Lil Brookes – Renfrewshire-born artist and social historian

Lil Brookes, how did you get involved with community-based art projects? Through the whole Paisley 2021 thing. I did an original painting for the cover of one of the documents that went to London. Before that I’d done paintings mostly based on textiles. Because I’m an historian I like to do research beforehand and... Read More

Interview: John Byrne

Now in his 8th decade, John Byrne is still that same man from Ferguslie with ingenuity to spare. Here, we discuss his recent milestones, Renfrewshire’s enduring spirit and much more.  When people from beyond the region’s postcodes, think of Paisley and Renfrewshire, a few things will commonly come to mind. Perhaps they’ve visited for... Read More

The Paisley Snail

A new statue in Paisley pays tribute to a woman who changed the course of legal history. We spoke to the artist behind it. On 26 August 1928, May Donoghue, a working-class single parent from Glasgow, visited a café in Paisley. The ginger beer she bought that day eventually led to the foundation of... Read More