Own Art
Making Art Affordable and Accessible to Everyone
Own Art makes buying art easy and affordable by letting you spread the cost of your purchase over 10 months with an interest free loan. With hundreds of original works of art to choose from, why not start a collection of your own today from as little as £10 per month?
What Can I Buy?
Own Art loans can be used for the purchase of any kind of contemporary art or craft from paintings and drawings to sculpture and ceramics from as little as £100 up to a maximum of £2,500 over 10 months.
At Sculpture Gallery we have an extensive selection of sculpture and many other pieces to buy through the Own Art scheme. If there is a particular item you wish to buy, please contact us or a member of staff in the gallery.
How much can I borrow?
Own Art loans allow you to borrow from as little as £100 up to a maximum of £2,500 for the purchase of works of art by living artists.
Although there isn’t a limit on the amount of times you can use Own Art, we suggest that you do not apply for more than one loan at the same time. Every loan application will be subject to a credit check, and your application may be declined if you have not yet already established a repayment record for an existing Own Art loan, or if the total amount of credit you have asked for is considered by the finance company to be too high in relation to your income.
£100 is the minimum that can be borrowed (this would be repaid in monthly installments of £10), but it is possible to use this to cover several lower value items with a combined value of over £100.
If you are buying something more valuable than £2,500 you can use an Own Art loan as a part payment. Please note that you cannot apply for multiple Own Art loans to cover the costs of a single purchase.
Own Art Plus loans allow you to borrow from £2,500 up to a maximum of £25,000 for the purchase of artwork by artists born in the 20th or 21st centuries. These loans are repayable over 10 months.
All Own Art loans are completely interest free for the customer.
How do I apply?
Applying for an Own Art loan is easy!
The first stage is the difficult bit -- deciding what to buy. There are hundreds of Own Art member galleries across the country to choose from, many of which specialise in different types of work -- from prints and photography to ceramics and jewellery. Use our gallery finder to search for the kind of work you are most interested in. Are you eligible?
Own Art is available to all UK residents over the age of 18, subject to status. This means that you must be able to meet the following criteria in order to apply for a loan:
- Over the age of 18
- A permanent UK resident
- Working at least 16 hours a week (employed or self-employed)
- A retired person in receipt of a pension
If you are not working but are married to or living with a partner who does meet the above criteria, then you may still apply provided that your partner is happy for their employment details to be included on your application form. Ask for Own Art
Once you've found the piece of work that you want to buy, just let the gallery know that you'd like to apply for an Own Art loan to finance your purchase. All we need is your name, address, email and how much of a deposit you would like to pay. You don't have to pay a despoit but it does help bring down the cost per month of the loan.
Don't forget that if you are applying for the loan in person you will need to show proof of ID – this could be in the form of a utility bill or just simply your driving licence -- along with a credit or debit card as proof of signature. It only takes 10 minutes!
Staff in the gallery will take you through the loan application process, which normally takes about 10 minutes. Once you've given all the information they need, you'll get an instant decision.
A deposit is not necessary (although galleries may ask for one at their discretion, should you wish to take the work home with you immediately). Live with the art you love
Once the agreement has been signed, the process is complete. You can take your artwork away there and then!
You will receive a welcome letter from our finance partner Novuna Personal Finance and following this the 10 monthly payments will be collected from your account via direct debit. This usually starts about four weeks after you have made your purchase. You can contact Novuna to change the payment date to one more convenient for you.
Simple as that.