arts & business council

MetLife Foundation National Arts Forums Series

Cultural Alliance of Greater Washington
Washington, District of Columbia

Cause and Effect: What Impact Does Art in the Workplace Have on the Workforce?
03/29/2007

Moderator: Glen Howard, President, Strategic Philanthropy Advisors; Board Member Americans for the Arts

Introductions:

• Jay Gates, Director, The Phillips Collection

Panelists:

• Paul Boulis, President, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois & Chairman, Arts & Business Council of Chicago
• James Fitzpatrick, Senior Partner & Chair of Art Committee, Arnold & Porter; former Trustee, The Phillips Collection
• Abel Lopez, Chair, Creative Communities, Community Foundation for the National Capital Region

This forum addressed the role of corporate art collections and exposure to the arts for current workers. How are corporate art collections being used effectively? Is there any return on investment research which shows that exposure to art in the workplace has a measurable impact on employee performance, productivity, or job satisfaction? Why choose to invest in what may be perceived as a “passive artistic expression”? How can companies benefit from supporting visual art?

In 2003, the Business Committee for the Arts and the International Association for Professional Art Advisors announced the results of a national survey of more than 800 people working for 32 companies that have workplace art collections. The responses revealed that art in the workplace helps businesses address several key challenges, such as reducing stress, increasing creativity and productivity, enhancing morale, broadening employee appreciation of diversity, as well as encouraging discussions and expression of opinions. 

The survey also indicated that art in the workplace enhances the work environment, evidences the company’s interest in improving the quality of life in and out of the workplace, helps to build customer and community relations, and leads to networking opportunities.

The three panelists, all of whom have had extensive experience administering art-in-the-workplace programs, discussed the benefits of infusing the workplace with visual art, the return on investment derived from such exposure, and how to best educate the business world on the value of these programs. 

James Fitzpatrick shared that Arnold & Porter’s goal is to use artwork to communicate the law firm’s creativity and imagination to its clients. The collection began with Washington-based artists like Morris Louis (whose wife the firm had represented), and a lot of the collection was part of the Washington Color School, an abstract visual art movement that emerged in the city in the mid-sixties. Arnold & Porter ultimately began to host shows for emerging Washington, DC artists, some of whom had never had a gallery show before. The reaction to the collection by lawyers, staff, and clients has been very positive, as it “sets a tone of humanity and creativity that permeates the entire institution,” said Fitzpatrick. 

However, Fitzpatrick warned that companies must be sensitive to the power of visual imagery. To reflect Arnold & Porter’s long-term involvement with civil rights issues, the firm acquired a set of images from Godfrey Frankel’s series In the Alleys, which depict mid-20th century African-American Washingtonians and their lives in the squalid alleyways just blocks from the Capitol building. Frankel’s photos offended some of the firm’s employees whose families had lived in those poor conditions. As a result, the firm moved Frankel’s photos to a more secluded area of the building. 

One problem that many companies face in attempting to establish a workplace art program is the inability to find funding, which is due in many cases to the fact that companies often aren’t aware of the value that such programs provide. The panelists said that the art programs at their companies got off the ground with unconventional means of funding. For example, Arnold & Porter used money from the firm’s furnishings budget to acquire the beginnings of its collection. 

“We are a health insurance company, and in a country where 44 million people are uninsured, we’re often asked how we can spend money on art,” said Paul Boulis, president of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois. But Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois has a rich history of integrating artwork into their workspaces. A former president from the 1950s had purchased two Alexander Calder mobiles and a Louise Nevelson sculpture for the collection. “They were beautiful pieces, but they would have been out of context in our new building,” Boulis explained. The pieces were auctioned through Sotheby’s, and the funds from the auction financed the company’s new art collection. Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois has also become a major corporate sponsor of Gallery 37, the city of Chicago’s award-winning job training program in visual, literary, and performing arts for young people.  The program brings in artists of different types from all over the world to teach classes. Blue Cross and Blue Shield’s building features an extensive collection of art from students in the Gallery 37 program.

Abel Lopez said that it is important to remember that workplace art collections can start off small, and that a company doesn’t necessarily need a lot of money to begin a program. The goal of Lopez’s projects is to show corporate employees how artists work, how they function in their communities, and how the process of art-making relates to business processes. He suggested that corporate buildings could offer space for artist studios, since space is an issue artists struggle with in all cities.

 “The available research, and your presentations today, suggest that businesses that invest in art in the workplace are seeing returns on their investments,” stated moderator Glen Howard.  “So why isn't this a no-brainer for other businesses? Why aren’t we seeing art collections all over town, the region, and the country?”

James Fitzpatrick said that although many businesses in Washington, DC already understand the importance of integrating artwork into their environments, in-depth research that would quantify art-in-the-workplace programs’ effectiveness does not yet exist. “I can’t support this with data in terms of employee satisfaction,” said Fitzpatrick, “there is just an intuitive sense that this is reinforcing morale.”