Artists for Peace raises £11,000 for Ukraine

The Artists for Peace art exhibition which featured some 136 artworks from local artists has raised some £11,000 for the Red Cross Gibraltar’s appeal for Ukraine.

Held at the Gustavo Bacarisas Gallery last week, members of the public were able to place closed bids.

Artists for Peace was the brain child of Gail Francis-Tiron, who set out to help those displaced by the ongoing conflict in Ukraine.

She was inspired by street artist Diego Hernán Rondán, who sabotaged his own mural of the Battle of Trafalgar with an anti-war message that stated: “Art has the power to inspire. Now is not a time to paint war.”

Together with local art collector, John Paul Bautista, the exhibition came together featuring works from 63 local artists.

There were also books that were for sale and some people gave donations.

“I am pleasantly surprised by how much was raised and how many people came forward to donate artworks for the piece,” Ms Francis-Tiron told the Chronicle.

“We had some artists who took the opportunity to showcase their work for the first time because they were not competing against anyone else.”

“It’s been two weeks of madness but well worth it, and we are looking at making Artists in Peace a movement in the future.”