Taigh Chearsabhagh Arts Centre and Museum in Lochmaddy, North Uist, is to benefit from the expertise of a visual arts marketing co-ordinator for the next three months.

This is Marcus Wilson's sixth art gallery residency since being appointed to the two-year post last summer, which involves him spending time in various publicly-funded galleries throughout the Highlands and Islands. The aim is to help them develop marketing plans so that they can promote themselves more successfully and become more viable in the longer term.

Funded by Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) and the Scottish Arts Council National Lottery Fund, the post was created by HI Arts, the arts development agency for the Highlands and Islands, and could serve as a pilot for similar arts marketing agencies throughout the UK.

Marcus arrived in Lochmaddy earlier this month to take up his most recent residency following periods with Art.tm in Inverness; the Pier Arts Centre in Stromness, Orkney; An Tobar Arts Centre in Tobermory, Isle of Mull; and An Tuireann in Portree on the Isle of Skye.

During his residency at Taigh Chearsabhagh Marcus will prepare and begin to develop a plan for the gallery, while working on an ongoing strategy for the network of galleries as a whole. Marcus is also on hand to help individual artists in the area with a series of one to one surgeries to help them promote their work through new mediums.

On moving to his new residency on North Uist, Marcus said: "It is a credit to Taigh Chearsabhagh, considering its remote location in the Outer Hebrides, that it is one of the best attended art centres in the Highlands and Islands. I have already been extremely impressed by the support shown from the local community towards the centre."

Over the course of Marcus’ first year in post, he has also been responsible for the production of a Visual Arts Guide for the Highlands and Islands, promoting some 125 galleries and centres across the region. There are also plans to establish this guide on the Internet to further promote the sector. In addition, Marcus is currently organising the annual visual arts conference for the Highlands and Islands, to be held later this year.

At the end of the two-year project, Marcus will present a sector-wide strategy for the marketing of the visual arts in the Highlands and Islands, concentrating on the marketing of both public and private galleries, as well as the promotion of the work of individual practitioners.

Artists wanting to contact Marcus should contact him through HI Arts on tel: 01463 244271.