THE people of Southampton are being invited to paint a portrait of their LGBTQ+ inspiration.

On August 28, artist Lucy Ash, will be joining members of the public at Southampton City Art Gallery for the portrait painting event.

The artworks, that will be created to coincide with Southampton Pride, will then be showcased at the artist's exhibition, Invisible Portraits, being displayed at the gallery in September 2022.

The exhibition looks to make the LGBTQ+ community more visible and will celebrate diversity, bravery and forgotten figures from LGBTQ+ history with the idea coming out of Lucy's practice of painting a small section of a large artwork each day.

She said, "For over a year I've been in my studio immersed in the lives of LGBTQ artists and activists who matter to me. I've had the thrill of relating artworks in Southampton City Art Gallery's collection to abstract portraits and film I'm developing.

"My 2022 exhibition will tell an important story and make visible LGBTQ lives that have historically been hidden".

For the event, named Portraits of Inspiration, attendees will be given a small canvas section, along with paints and brushes with which to paint their inspiration.

The art will then be assembled into two large artworks, each comprising 323 individual portraits which will be intrinsic to the Invisible Portraits exhibition.

Councillor Spiros Vassiliou, Cabinet Member for Communities, Culture and Heritage at Southampton City Council, said: “We’re proud of our diversity here in Southampton and I encourage our local communities to come into the gallery to get involved, be part of the positive change and feature in a major artwork by Lucy in next year’s exhibition.”