To recognize the important role of the business community in advancing the arts, Americans for the Arts annually presents the BCA 10 awards celebrating ten businesses for their innovative partnerships with the arts. These businesses range in size and location but share a passion for engaging with the arts to advance their companies and communities; and from our work around the country, we know that they are not alone and that there is increased engagement from the business community in support of the arts. That is why it is not surprising to see that the 2017 edition of Giving in Numbers produced by CECP, in partnership with the Conference Board, showed an increase in arts funding from the corporate community between 2014 and 2016.

On October 11, businesses of all types and sizes from all across the country—Vermont to Hawaii and eight states in between—will come together for the BCA 10 gala at the Central Park Boathouse in New York to be recognized by Americans for the Arts for their outstanding commitment to the arts. But WHO are these honorees? Learn more about their arts partnerships below including corporate performance groups, extensive art exhibits, and some fierce board leadership. 

GOLDEN goes beyond supporting the arts, believing in the arts, or even investing in the arts. To them, they wouldn’t exist without the arts, without the artists who use their products, and without the innovators who challenge them to create new products that test traditional methods of painting and artmaking.

From a purely business perspective, the arts in general and public art in particular are demonstrated spurs of economic development. This happy reality has proven true in my work as the Principal and sole employee of Prospective Inc., which is the exclusive leasing agent for the 4-million-square-foot office component of Reston Town Center, an internationally-recognized urban mixed-use development located in Reston, Virginia.

In 1883, John Michael Kohler, who was in the business of making cast iron farm implements and cemetery crosses, looked at a watering trough and realized he could add four ornamental feet to transform it into the company’s first bathtub. 120 years later, that same innovative spark is what turned a simple dorm room project into Facebook, a $200 billion company that changed the world and ignited a new era in entrepreneurial innovation.

Imagine that you are arriving to a job interview at a tech company. As you wait, you take a look around you, and notice beautiful, thought-provoking works of art displayed on the walls, plus sculptures in the public and outdoor spaces. Imagine working for a manufacturing firm, when one day you receive an announcement of an exciting new art contest for employees. Or, attending your national insurance firm's annual meeting, knowing that you'll soon be able to take the stage for a company-wide battle of the bands and sing and perform your heart out. In these three examples, you would actually be at Microsoft, Ford, or Aetna, respectively, but in reality it could be any one of thousands of businesses that are harnessing the power of the arts...because it is good for business.

My love for dance started at home. My mother danced ballet through high school, and I’m convinced she named me after a character from The Turning Pointe. By the time I was 5 years old, I was training with her same instructor at Yuma Ballet Academy where I remained until I graduate high school and joined my first company.

My path to science has a similar story. I’ve had an affinity for science ever since my aunt explained what it’s like to be an aerospace engineer. She sent me “A Brief History of Time” by Stephen Hawkings when I was just 10 years old and would share with me her dreams of working for NASA.

Looking back, it was my early exposure to both art and science that allowed me to grow up believing I could excel in any area. After dancing ballet professionally for a couple of years, I decided to enter university to become a chemical engineer. Perseverance and the drive for excellence, skills forged in dance training, made four years of a rigorous course load bearable.

Kellyn Lopes

A guest speaker in one of my graduate courses recently said, “94% of people don’t care about the arts.” While it may be true that a portion of people don’t actively seek out and participate in the arts, or consider themselves to be “artsy,” there is a significant relevance in understanding and “caring” about the role of the arts in society.

Instead, maybe 94% of people haven’t fully recognized the transformative power and intrinsic value of the arts in their communities…and their businesses.

So how do we measure the value of the arts?

Patrick O’Herron interviewing Dr. Ralph W. Shrader, Chairman & Chief Executive Officer of Booz Allen Hamilton.

1. Booz Allen Hamilton was a 2011 BCA 10: Best Businesses Partnering with the Arts in America honoree. Why does the company choose to support the arts?

The arts inspire, provoke thought, spur creativity, and connect us in a shared experience. These are also the essential qualities of an enduring, successful business–therefore, both as an institution and as individual employees, we find a natural affinity for the arts at Booz Allen. Corporate support helps make exhibitions and performances possible, and we find this to be a good way to give back to the communities in which we work and live.

2. How has the company’s support of the arts advanced business objectives?

Externally, there is a positive brand affinity and visibility that comes from association with respected museums and arts organizations, as well as favorable recognition in the community for helping to make possible quality exhibitions and performances.

Michael O'Brien

Printing Partners, a 2011 BCA 10 honoree, believes that arts organizations not only provide entertainment, but also enhance the quality of life in our community, educate children and broaden minds. We support the arts for these reasons, but reap many additional benefits in our partnerships with these organizations.

Printing Partners has long-standing collaborations with theatres, performing arts venues, dance schools and companies, arts festivals, symphony orchestras, choir groups, and operas. We believe that these collaborations not only benefit the arts organizations through sponsorship, but also benefit Printing Partners, our employees, and our families.

Linda O'Dell

Many people aren’t surprised that Hallmark is a supporter and beneficiary of the arts. Our business is built around creativity. We have a clear interest in maintaining a symbiotic relationship with the arts, if for no other reason than to attract and nurture the people who make up Hallmark’s huge, and hugely talented, in-house creative staff.

But there also are Hallmarkers whose jobs aren’t usually viewed in a creative context.

I’m one of them. And from my vantage point as a corporate spokesperson, there’s great benefit to me, with similar potential to a business of any type, in investing in what Hallmark’s chairman, Donald J. Hall, has described as “the highest expression of the human spirit.”

So let me share a few examples of what Hallmark’s support of the arts means for “non-creative” me, for the company I represent, and for the community I call home.

Kathleen Chaves

In 2002, jobs were scarce in rural, isolated Baker City, OR, population 10,000. My husband and I decided to dedicate ourselves to growing our 20-year-old company, Chaves Consulting, Inc. from providing two jobs to creating 100 with a complete package of benefits.

At about the same time, another vision was being created by the Crossroads Arts board to have someone raise the almost two million dollars it would take to renovate Baker City’s historic 1909 Carnegie Library building to become their new home after spending much of its history without a permanent one. The Crossroads board asked if I would be the grant writer to raise the funding and manage the renovation project.

My husband, Richard, and my motivation for leading the project was based on the vision of how the arts could grow and make a huge difference in the lives of Baker’s children and families, as it had altered mine. I strongly believed that this project would provide children an avenue to express themselves and uplift them as it had done for me during my teenage years when I felt very disconnected and lost.

We believed that the arts could give children a voice who otherwise felt lonely and isolated. The arts saved my life and made me feel a part of something. I believed it could do the same in Baker. In addition, the renovated Carnegie building would give hundreds of adult Eastern Oregon artists an incredible space to share their gift.

Laura Bruney

When business supports the arts, everyone profits. I had the honor of serving as a judge for The BCA 10 awards this year and found tangible evidence that this is true.

The annual awards recognize 10 U.S. companies for their exceptional commitment to the arts. We evaluated nominees from across America—from small mom and pop companies to mega multi-national firms, the businesses we judged were all making valuable contributions to the arts that were paying dividends for their employees, their clients, and their communities. The value of the arts is proven over and over in neighborhoods, cities, states, and our nation.

Deciding the winners was difficult. I was impressed with all of the nominees. As a member of the Americans for the Arts Private Sector Council, I was gratified to see such a wide variety of enterprises that treasure and support  the arts. After much consideration and comparison 10 amazing winners were selected.

The winners were honored in October at an evening gala at the Central Park Boathouse in New York City and the representatives from the winning companies all had something important to say about why the arts matter.

Alltech believes the arts are essential to creating a strong community. They sponsor cultural programs across Kentucky that impact more than 500,000. In accepting the award Pearse Lyons, president and founder, sent a clear message about his sustained support for the arts. When other companies cut back on the arts, Alltech cuts forward.

(l to r) Joseph C. Dilg, Managing Partner, Vinson & Elkins LLP and Chairman of the BCA Executive Board; Herbert V. Kohler, Jr., Chairman and CEO of Kohler Co.; Bob Lynch, President & CEO, Americans for the Arts

Last month, Americans for the Arts recognized several outstanding businesses that support the arts during the annual BCA 10: Best Companies Supporting the Arts in America.

Set in the elegant Central Park Boathouse in New York City, the Awards Ceremony fell somewhere between formal banquet and lighthearted celebration.

The evening began at 6:00, when the honorees and their guests arrived. The excitement in the room was almost palpable as CEOs, vice presidents, and managers, representing businesses small and large from all across America mingled, brought together by their common passion for supporting the arts.

It was during the acceptance speeches that it became clear how, for these companies, supporting the arts is far more than a philanthropic duty.

The 'cast' of "The Adventures of Little Noodle."

Collectively, we know the arts accomplish more than what meets the eye (or the ear), but sometimes there are partnerships which are attention grabbing for their creative approach.

The collaboration between Aetna and the Center for Puppetry Arts is one of those partnerships.

Well...whose attention wouldn’t be pulled towards a puppet called ‘Little Noodle’?

'Little Noodle' is a new puppet created by Atlanta-based Center for Puppetry Arts in collaboration with Aetna. The Adventures of Little Noodle is one of the Center’s plays addressing health and wellness, as part of their Healthy Children/Prevent Childhood Obesity Initiative.

Aetna has been committed to being at the forefront of this issue in the healthcare field and sees a strong tie to the effectiveness of messaging through the arts.

The arts can be a strong vehicle for a business’s message and the strength of programs like Aetna’s, is built on the power and reach of the arts.

On November 4, arts and business leaders from all over the US commended twelve exceptional businesses for their commitment to the arts at the BCA 10 awards in New York City. Now that the awards are over, the black ties have come off and the awardees have returned to their respective home bases. But from Iowa to Oregon, the celebration of these exceptional businesses shows no signs of stopping.

In Cincinnati, Strata-G continues to celebrate by renewing their commitment to supporting the arts. The company is launching a campaign to offer two Cincinnati area arts organizations their marketing services, pro-bono, for a full year. "Being nominated for and winning the BCA 10 award further reinforced in us the role that business can play in supporting area non-profits,” Strata-G managing partner Jeff Eberlein said. “We wanted to step up once again and show our gratitude to and support worthy arts organizations.” Strata-G earned a BCA 10 award for providing over $75,000 in pro-bono services to arts organizations in 2009 alone. And in Oregon, Portland General Electric is being honored at Business and Culture for the Arts’ Breakfast of Champions, where Portland Mayor Sam Adams will re-present the BCA 10 award to PGE CEO Jim Piro. "PGE believes the arts have the power to educate, heal and create a vibrant economy and has long demonstrated a dedication to incorporating the arts in its corporate culture while also encouraging other businesses to follow suit,” said Virginia Willard, Business for Culture & the Art's executive director.

In their acceptance speeches at the 2016 BCA 10 Awards, twelve industry leaders spoke about what being honored at the 2016 BCA 10 means to them and why they encourage and seek out opportunities to bring the arts into their worlds.

"We believe that everyone in this room is art. And when art and the folks in this room come together, we spark innovation; we inspire youth. We celebrate and heal communities. We stimulate economies. We sustain this great nation."