A BANGOR community arts project which has helped spring board artists to success celebrated its fifth anniversary with a special show.

The Bangor Arts Initiative, based in the Deiniol Centre, celebrated its fifth birthday in the town this week.

Bangor Arts Initiative's Maggie Doherty, the co-founder of the arts charity, described how the town's art scene had changed in the time the gallery had been in existence.

Maggie said: "When we first started out as a gallery, there was a very different artistic landscape in the town centre.

"At that time there was just the city’s museum and art gallery and ourselves."

Since opening, the Bangor Arts Initiative has gone on to exhibit 650 artists' work.

Maggie added: "Many of the artists have gone to make a good living out of showing their work in the gallery, and some have gone on to greater things such as solo shows, collaborations or even opening their own gallery."

Maggie said the Bangor said the gallery could help springboard artists by encouraging them to "take the leap to exhibit, and get involved and participate."

She said: "One of our greatest achievements has been the ability to facilitate international artists' exhibitions, alongside works from the local community.

"Our reputation for delivering exhibitions to the community has just grown and grown.

"This is all down to the hard work from the volunteers involved within the charity, and we hope to continue this with Bangor Arts Initiative collaborating with other groups within the community helping to change the artistic landscape even further.

The gallery is open from 11am to 3pm, from Tuesday to Saturday. The arts initiative is keen to hear from any artists interested in exhibiting their work or wanting to collaborating on projects. For details contact: 01248 351 358.