Forty five professional artists, all living or working in Craven, brought round their contemporary artwork to Craven District Council’s Craven Museum & Gallery this week, in preparation for the opening of Contemporary Craven Christmas – the annual selling exhibition of artwork organised by the Council’s Cultural Services team.

“The work just gets better and better”, said Councillor Ken Hart, Lead Member for Culture at the Council. “Each year we have new and emerging artists’ work in with the more established work of professional artists and it’s fascinating to see how they are developing from year to year.

We have more new artists this year too and the quality of both the new and the established artists continues to rise. To beat the credit crunch, we can now offer interest free credit for 10 months on purchases over £100, through the Own Art scheme run by the Arts Council.

It’s unusual for a gallery as small as ours to get this, so we’re delighted to be able to offer it”.

Contemporary Craven Christmas runs from 22 October to 21 December. All works are for sale and admission is free.

Open Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday 12 – 4; Saturday 10 – 4, closed Tuesdays and Sundays.

School and community group tours can also be arranged. Tel 01756 706407 for more details.