ARTIST Alan Fielding (pictured) was so desperate to bring the arts back to Darwen he decided to make his dream turn real with money -- £30,000 of it!

Alan has spent that amount over three years to convert a former builder's yard into the Valley Art Centre.

The centre on Sudell Road opens tomorrow and Alan reckons it has captured the town's imagination.

"Many of the classes are booked up already and I am always getting inquiries about it," said Alan.

"Three years ago I noticed that Darwen was screaming out for an arts centre, the old Darwen Arts Society had folded and a number of people were painting at home and there was no organisation to the art movement in the town."

As well as paying for the project, Alan did most of the work himself. The centre now boasts a main classroom area and two studios for Alan's own use.

The centre will be open during the day and in the evening and Alan has organised a range of groups from beginner's classes to life classes for talented artists to classes during the day for pensioners in a number of different media including painting, drawing, sculpture and photography.

The centre will also host classes in the Duke of Edinburgh Awards Scheme.

For the time being all classes will be take by Alan, a professional artist with 20 years experience, but as the centre grows he hopes to bring in other artists to take seminars.

"A lot of hard work has been put into this and I am determined to make it a success. The early signs are very promising," said Alan.

"The recently re-formed Darwen Arts Society has decided to use the centre as a base and classes are filling up extremely fast, showing the passion that people from Darwen have for the arts."

A lot of the classes will carry a small fee to cover costs for heating, lighting and model charges for the life classes but the Duke of Edinburgh classes are subsidised.

Anyone wanting more information about the classes should ring Alan on 01254 614347.