Own Art, a new national scheme from the Scottish Arts Council, offering interest free loans of up to £2,000 to buy contemporary visual art and craft was launched last night (Wednesday) in nine galleries across Scotland, including the Castle Gallery in Inverness.

The initiative will be rolled out over the coming year as more galleries join the national scheme, which aims to foster a nation of art collectors and help develop the visual arts economy in Scotland.

 The Scottish Arts Council announced that the first galleries participating in Own Art include the Castle Gallery in Inverness, Edinburgh Printmakers, the Ingleby Gallery and the Scottish Gallery in Edinburgh as well Dundee Contemporary Arts, Glasgow Print Studio and Roger Billcliffe Gallery in Glasgow, Peacock Visual Arts in Aberdeen, and the Strathearn Gallery in Crieff. 

The selected galleries, which have original works on sale by leading Scottish artists including Ian Hamilton Finlay, Elizabeth Blackadder, Peter Lynch and Moyna Flannigan, have also been piloting the initiative in Scotland prior to the launch. 

Own Art's interest free loans of £100 to £2,000 are repaid in instalments over a 10 month period and will now make it more affordable for people in Scotland to buy high quality, original contemporary art. 

By encouraging sales in a wide range of visual art and craft including painting, sculpture, photography and ceramics, Own Art aims to encourage new buyers and patrons of contemporary art and develop the visual arts economy through increasing sales, which will benefit both galleries and artists.

The scheme will also increase access to contemporary visual arts and craft by promoting galleries and artists while encouraging galleries to represent the breadth of creative practice including work by artists working in video, photography and CD as well as paint, print and
sculpture and craft such as jewellery, textiles and ceramics.

Research from the Scottish Arts Council has shown a steady increase in the number of people attending art galleries throughout Scotland and both galleries and artists have indicated there is a real potential for growth in the market.

Graham Berry, Director of the Scottish Arts Council, says: 'Buying and owning an original work of art can be a wonderful and enriching experience.  Own Art can bring about a real change in the way we engage with contemporary art, and art galleries, demonstrating that buying art
can be easy, and not necessarily expensive at all.

'Own Art is also about benefiting the artist.  More people buying original artwork will create more demand for work by Scottish artists and therefore help to increase the number of artists who can make a living from what they do, rather than having to supplement their income
through other means.'

Denise Collins of the Castle Gallery adds: 'The benefits of this scheme to the gallery, customer and artist are considerable.  Customers can 'seize the moment' and make an impulse purchase or buy an unique work of art that might not otherwise be there the next time they visit the
gallery.  It can make the purchase of art much less daunting with a manageable monthly amount and at 0% interest it makes financial sense and should become the 'norm' for those more special purchases.

'Anything that encourages sales of contemporary art is obviously good for both the gallery and artist too.  Since the inception of the pilot scheme, several customers to the Castle Gallery in Inverness have taken advantage of it and been very pleased.'

Own Art is a UK initiative, first set up by Arts Council England.  The Scottish Arts Council is working in partnership with ACE to develop the scheme.  With all participating galleries displaying the Own Art logo, it is hoped that more people visiting art galleries while travelling in
different parts of the UK will be able to recognise and utilise the scheme.