The Wellspring of 1000 Eyes

Description

Welcome to the Wellspring of 1000 Eyes
An exhibition to celebrate one year of The Art Department's new home.
A Painted, Stained Glass and mixed media project to hang in the windows of the former Argos building to light up and announce the arrival of our new space.
Inspired by our new home at 9-11 Causeyside St ( a former Argos store) and the Greek God “Argos Panoptes” The earthborn son of Gaia he was a giant with 100 eyes.

“And set a watcher upon her, great and strong Argos, who with four eyes looks every way. And the goddess stirred in him unwearying strength: sleep never fell upon his eyes; but he kept sure watch always.”

His great service to the Olympian pantheon was to slay the chthonic serpent-legged monster Echidna as she slept in her cave. Hera's defining task for Argos was to guard the white heifer Io from Zeus, She required someone who had at least a hundred eyes spread out, always watching in all directions, someone who would stay awake despite being asleep.
Argos was meant to be the perfect guardian.
Calling all artists!  The Art Department, Paisley Ltd is announcing a CALL FOR ENTRIES for THE WELLSPRING OF 1000 EYES. Taking place at The Art Department, Paisley.  The show will open on 2nd April and run until Sat 30th May 2026 at our new permanent home and gallery space at 9-11 Causeyside Street, Paisley PA1 1UW.
The organisers are looking for entries which includes STAINED GLASS, PAINTED GLASS, TEXTILES, PRINTS, SCULPTURE, MIXED MEDIA , CERAMICS, INSTALLATION, DIGITAL, FILM, VIDEO. Closing date for entries is 7th March 2026. There is NO hanging fee for this show.  The project is supported by Renfrewshire Council's Culture, Heritage & Events Fund.Artists can submit a maximum of SIX art works. All submissions must be made online via this site.

Sales proceeds benefit the charity and contribute to organisation, hanging and marketing costs.  Sales Commission is 30% with VAT @ 20% on the sales commission element only.  Remittance to artists will be by 30th June 2026Please note we expect the majority of work submitted to be for sale.
Key Dates 
Call for Entries 7th February - 7th MarchArtists Notification 10th March approx.Hand-in of artwork 16-21 March 2026Exhibition Opening 2nd April 2026m 4pmShow ends Saturday 30th May 2026Exhibition Opening Hours Tues-Sat 10am-4pmHand-Back 1-6th June 2026Remittance of sales by 30th june 2026Any enquiries should be directed to The Art Department, Paisley team as the main exhibition organisers.The Art Department, Paisley Ltd9-11 Causeyside Street, PAISLEY PA1 1UWTel 0141 847 1122 (office hours Tue-Sat 10am-4pm (closed Sun/Mon)Email contact@art-department.orgPROJECT INSPIRED BY:The project has been developed and identified through a number of community conversations with artists and workshop participants over the last year in particular. In 2023/24 we staged The Teardrop Explodes exhibition and in 2022 the Being Co-operative exhibition both built via wide partnership and multiple relationships with dozens of artists. This new project is an evolution of the desires and interests our wide spread community of participation built up over many years. In moving from the old Co-op, a site with huge history and provenance, to the old Argos site at 9-11 Causeyside St we reached out to artists to generate ideas and themes which would have meaning and relevance to modern times and current social trends. The central idea that emerged was to develop work that offered a window into the soul, an eye for care, offered detail and context on social health and wellbeing, questioned social guardianship. What emerged was not only inspired by our new home, its name and its historical roots, a site founded by two Gaelic Western Isles brothers, The MacArthur Bros, but also its last occupant Argos. What does legacy mean when it disappears, when the social fabric of our high street declines and what takes it place. This is where The Art Department comes in. We offer a place where life can be understood, questioned, re-examined, reshaped, made colourful, bright, vibrant and alive. The name Argos comes from the Greek God “Argos Panoptes” The earthborn son of Gaia he was a giant with 100 eyes. “And set a watcher upon her, great and strong Argos, who with four eyes looks every way. And the goddess stirred in him unwearying strength: sleep never fell upon his eyes; but he kept sure watch always.” His great service to the Olympian pantheon was to slay the chthonic serpent-legged monster Echidna as she slept in her cave. Hera's defining task for Argos was to guard the white heifer Io from Zeus, She required someone who had at least a hundred eyes spread out, always watching in all directions, someone who would stay awake despite being asleep. Argos was meant to be the perfect guardian. From this we felt the need to develop a project where the communities eyes tell the stories of today.