A HOPEFUL call for renewed joy has been unveiled on an artwork posted on a giant billboard in a Scottish town.

It is the first in a series in an outdoor visual arts project designed to promote pride in Paisley as well as raise spirits during the coronavirus restrictions.

Three specially commissioned artworks are being featured on a five-and-a-half metre high billboard outside Paisley’s Gilmour Street Station between now and April 6 and are part of Renfrewshire Leisure’s Out of Place programme that also features online gigs, film, audio performances and creative workshops.

The first piece to be featured on the billboard is a poem by Roddy Scott, called Sma’ Shot Reel, which talks about celebrating the end of coronavirus lockdown restrictions. The second is by David Rae, whose words draw on the romance of meeting and parting at the station.

A poem called Paisley Before, Now And Next: Radicals An’ Revolutionaries by Fraser Scott and Iona Ramsay from Kick The Door theatre production company is the third in the series.

The idea for the artworks came from Renfrewshire Leisure’s Visual Arts Projects producer, Kate Drummond, who said she thought it would be interesting to use the billboard for something that wasn’t advertising.

“It’s a different way of communicating something in the written word, which is a nice positive message,” she said. “People wouldn’t normally expect to see something like this on a billboard, so hopefully it will be very noticeable.”

Roddy Scott said he wanted his words to raise people’s spirits and help them feel “uplifted”.

“It’s an amazing idea to have creative writing on a billboard,” he said. “When I heard my piece was chosen I was blown away.”

David Rae said he was also “very excited” by the project. “I love Paisley and the town is a great inspiration for me,” he said. “I’ve never had my words on a billboard before and I’m fascinated by the thought of my words being used in this way. I hope my piece will bring a smile to faces and a few memories to those that pass by.”

Fraser Scott and Ramsay’s work is a short poem recounting historic moments in Paisley’s past that made it what it is today.

“We really hope our writing will spark excitement about the town and what could be next with those who read it,” said Scott. “Our hope is to capture a feeling of pride about Paisley and it is our hope that the people who read it will share in that pride.

“In its final words, the poem asks, with all that behind us, what next?”

The Out of Place events are made possible with the support of Future Paisley.