How can a new business on a low-end budget project a high-end image to clients?

One way is to rent art from the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Businesses can rent one or two pieces although some rent 40 pieces or more at a time for a minimum of six months.

The art rental program has been around for decades, but it has taken off in recent years as more companies want to project that certain image, said Jan Weimer, a board member of the Art Museum Council, which administers the museum’s Art Rental and Sales Program.

The rental program also gives some businesses time to decide if they want to buy the art; other businesses like to swap out their art on occasion to update their look.

Another thing that’s changed: Businesses want much more service. In the past, it wasn’t unusual for an office manager to go to the museum and pick a piece or two to cover a blank space on the wall.

“Now it’s much more hands-on, much more personal,” said Patti Howard, the rental gallery manager.

Typically today, museum volunteers go to the business, check out the existing d & #233;cor, interview employees and then suggest art for the business, she said.

Of course, any service that gains popularity and requires greater service leads to the inevitable: a price increase. Rental rates will go up in July, and the amount of the rental that can be applied to the purchase price will drop from 75 percent to 65 percent.

Some businesses rent a piece for so long, “they end up owing it,” said Weimer.

The pieces that can be rented and purchased are not the same as those on display in the museum. They are pieces from hundreds of local artists who have been approved to supply their work for rental. More than half of the rental fee goes to the artists; the rest goes to support the museum.