Interest-free loans to sell modern art to the people
PHIL MILLER, Arts Correspondent October 22 2004 THE Scottish Arts Council hopes to offer interest-free loans to the public to encourage spending on contemporary art. It plans to launch a pilot programme, under which people will be able to borrow between �100 and �2000 at special rates, to encourage the purchase of paintings, prints and craft items. The scheme will be based on a successful version in England, which will be relaunched next month with backing from the HSBC bank, which will arrange and administer the loans. In England, the loan has to be paid back over 10 months. The SAC is in talks to finalise details of a similar scheme for north of the border. Graham Berry, director of the SAC, said last night that one hurdle for the scheme was the "legal framework surrounding instant consumer credit" � whether the SAC could itself issue loans. "However, our recent research in this area has been quite positive and indicates that it's a hurdle that can be overcome," he said. It is understood the SAC is considering a deal with a bank, similar to the Arts Council of England's deal with HSBC. The ACE will relaunch its loan scheme and call it Own Art, moving it from a regional to a nationwide basis. Already more than 200 galleries from across England take part in the scheme. David McNeill, director of press and public relations at ACE, said: "People are nervous about entering galleries and nervous about expressing their taste. We are trying to break down these barriers." --------------------------------------------------- This mail sent through http://www.easynetdial.co.uk ------------------------------------------------- a m b i t : networking media arts in scotland post: [EMAIL PROTECTED] archive: http://www.mediascot.org/ambit info: send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] and write "info ambit" in the message body -------------------------------------------------
