#1 Richmond has an enviable business community as evidenced by its being one of only 11 cities to be headquarters to more than five Fortune 500 companies and one of only 12 cities to have a Federal Reserve Bank.
#2 Richmond’s arts/culture community is likewise enviable as evidenced by its emergence from the recession with all of its major arts and culture organizations thriving: symphony, opera, ballet, theatre, art museum, science museum, history museum, children’s museum, botanical garden, and many dozens more.
#3 Richmond has a slew of enviable national creative superlatives such as being home to the #1 marketing company (Martin Agency – think Geico gekko), #1 public art university (VCU), #1 university advertising program (VCU Adcenter), and forthcoming building designed by the #1 architect (Steven Holl).
Those three sentences have resulted in a three-year Greater Richmond Chamber-led initiative entitled i.e.* – a grand partnership that spotlights and energizes creativity and innovation for three purposes: enable the business community to leverage the creative community in accomplishing real business objectives; provide expanded audiences for the creative community; and foster new relationships and partnerships.
Richmond’s local arts agency—CultureWorks—is one of the active partners with the Chamber’s i.e.* initiative and three current projects demonstrate the partnership’s value.
In January 2012, CultureWorks partnered with 15 of the city’s major companies to present an art exhibition entitled “Creative Capital—Corporate Richmond Collects”: artworks from corporate collections that had never been viewed by the public. There was a public opening reception and a catalogue about the corporations and their collections. CultureWorks and the Greater Richmond Chamber partnered to host a private reception specifically for leaders from the business and arts communities.
The exhibition accomplished three goals. First, it enhanced the brands of the 15 companies by putting a public spotlight on the fact that they greatly value the arts. Second, it fostered relationships between arts and business leaders. And third, it demonstrated to the business and arts communities that multi-partner initiatives can be effective.
In February 2012, CultureWorks and the Greater Richmond Chamber partnered on an issues-related event. They gathered 50 leaders from business, arts, and local government to meet with Ken Fergeson—past chairman of the American Bankers Association and current chairman of Americans for the Arts. Ken addressed two topics that have emerged on the political stage in Richmond: a prospective downtown arts district and the city’s percent for art ordinance. The gathering helped confirm among the city’s leaders that the arts can be strategic vitality tools for economic development.
In March 2012, CultureWorks and the Greater Richmond Chamber are partnering to gather another group of business, arts, and civic leaders to meet with Todd Graham who, as President and CEO of the Iowa West Foundation, used public art as the fundamental vitality tool that transformed the city of Council Bluffs, IA to become a prosperous urban area known for its cultural enlightenment and public art collection that draws visitors from across the country and around the world. The gathering’s objectives are to inform the business and arts communities about the potential values of developing and embracing a public art plan, and to be a catalyst for a multi-partner planning process.
Richmond has significant arts and corporate communities, and partnerships such as the Chamber’s i.e.* initiative are providing impetus for important community development.
This post is one in a series highlighting The pARTnership Movement, Americans for the Arts’ campaign to to reach business leaders with the message that partnering with the arts can build their competitive advantage. Visit our website to find out how both businesses and local arts agencies can get involved!
