BCA Hall of Fame Award

The BCA Hall of Fame Award recognizes companies that have exhibited exceptional long-term vision, leadership, and commitment to developing alliances with the arts.
Corning Incorporated

Corning Incorporated
Corning Incorporated Foundation
Corning, New York
 
Bestowed 1995

Corning Incorporated, established in 1851, began providing significant funding to cultural programs and arts organizations in 1952 when it established the Corning Incorporated Foundation. In 1994 the company and foundation allocated $5.1 million to the arts.

Corning Incorporated has benefited the arts, business and the community by:

  • Opening its new World Headquarters in 1993, designed by Kevin Roche, and commissioning eight world-renowned glass artists to create major site-specific pieces for the new facility. Commissioned artists included: Peter Aldridge; Dale Chihuly; Rury Iwata; Stanislav Libensky; Jaroslava Brychtova; Donald Lipski; Bertil Vallien; and Dana Zamecnikova.
  • Helping, in 1951, to create The Corning Glass Center, which houses The Corning Museum of Glass. The museum, which contains the most comprehensive collection of glass objects in the world, is an internationally-recognized resource for students, artists, scholars and collectors. Corning made a multi-million dollar grant towards the construction of the museum and continues to support its programs.
  • Initiating and collaborating with other local businesses, cultural institutions and artists to support The Regional Cultural Plan, designed to enhance the quality of artistic and cultural life throughout the Corning and Elmira, New York region. The company also created the Corning Craft Artist Revolving Loan Project, which provides loans of up to $25,000 to craft artists who agree to establish their studios on or near Market Street, an historic district in Corning's downtown area.
  • Supporting established and emerging arts organizations such as The Rockwell Museum of Western Art, Corning; Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, Inc. and the Metropolitan Opera, both in New York, New York; and Arena Stage, Washington, D.C. In 1981, Corning developed a model Adopt-a-Gallery partnership at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, New York.
  • Encouraging Corning executives to serve on the boards of numerous arts groups. In addition, the company was one of the first to include cultural organizations in its employee matching gift program.
J.P. Morgan Chase & Co./The Chase Manhattan Bank

J.P. Morgan Chase & Co.
(Received Award as The Chase Manhattan Bank)
New York, New York
 
Bestowed 1994

J.P. Morgan Chase [formerly The Chase Manhattan Bank] began investing in the arts more than 35 years ago. In 1993 J.P. Morgan Chase's support to the arts totaled $2 million.

J.P. Morgan Chase has benefited the arts, business and the community by:

  • Commissioning Twyla Tharp to create a new work for the Martha Graham Dance Company's 1993-94 Centennial Tour, and sponsoring the dance company's tour of Asia, its performances at the Paris Opera House, its tour of California, plus several New York City seasons. J.P. Morgan Chase has also sponsored Twyla Tharp and Dancers' tours of Japan and Caracas; The Paul Taylor Dance Company's tour of Brussels; Lar Lubovitch Dance Company's tour of Santiago; and two U.S. tours of the Dance Theatre of Harlem. Additionally, the company spearheaded a special campaign to stabilize the Dance Theatre of Harlem's financial position and to develop new audiences for the Dance Theatre of Harlem nationwide.
  • Providing sponsorship and marketing support for many organizations, including the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Asia Society and the Big Apple Circus, all in New York, New York.
  • Sponsoring – since 1980 – Chase Salutes the Arts, a free lunchtime music and dance series in the outdoor plaza of its New York headquarters.
  • Maintaining The J.P. Morgan Chase art collection which is recognized as one of the foremost corporate art collections in the world and includes more than 20,000 works. J.P. Morgan Chase often lends works from the collection as it did for the opening of the Yokohama City Art Museum, Japan, and for “Photoplay,” a touring exhibition of 100 photographs from the J.P. Morgan Chase collection.
  • Sponsoring major touring exhibitions including “Man Ray/Bazaar Years: A Fashion Retrospective” organized by the International Center of Photography, New York, New York; “Helen Levitt,” organized by the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, California; and “Fifty Years of Collecting: An Anniversary Selection” in the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, New York.
  • Supporting nearly 300 arts organizations annually, including 175 in New York through its Small Grants Program for the Arts and Neighborhood Grants Program.
  • Encouraging J.P. Morgan Chase executives to serve on the boards of directors of arts organizations throughout the U.S.
ExxonMobil Corporation/Mobil Corporation

ExxonMobil Corporation
(Received Award as the Mobil Corporation)
Irving, Texas

Bestowed 1994

ExxonMobil [formerly Mobil Corporation] has been supporting the arts since the early 1960s. The company believes that its support to the arts enriches society and creates a more beneficial environment for all. In 1993, ExxonMobil committed more than $13 million in philanthropic, advertising and marketing support to the arts.

ExxonMobil has benefited the arts, business and the community by:

  • Becoming the first business in the U.S. to undertake a major sponsorship on public television. Since 1971 the company has invested more than $100 million in “Masterpiece Theatre” on PBS. Additionally, ExxonMobil has supported other public television series such as “Mystery!, The Ascent of Man,” as well as “Life on Earth” and its sequel “The Living Planet: A Portrait of the Earth.” Public television programs underwritten by ExxonMobil have won more than 30 Emmy Awards and have been viewed by millions worldwide.
  • Sponsoring major exhibitions, including the traveling exhibitions “From Sea to Shining Sea: A Portrait of America, Photographs by Hiroji Kubota” organized by the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., and “Sculpture of Indonesia,” organized by the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.. The company was the first business to provide special grants to museums, enabling them to remain open free to the public one night each week. This tripled the number of visitors to participating museums.
  • Awarding, since 1980, the Pegasus Prize to recognize works from countries whose literature is rarely translated and published in English. Recent prize-winning works include: “Night,” by Bilge Karasu, Turkey; “The Year of the Frog,” by Martin Simecka, the Czech and Slovak Republics; and “Turbulence,” by Jia Pingwa, China.
  • Devoting its Op-Ed advertising space to special messages designed to encourage interest in, and support of, the arts. These ads appear in major national publications and are read by more than 10 million individuals annually.
  • Providing general operating support to more than 250 arts and cultural organizations each year. ExxonMobil executives also serve on the boards of directors of cultural organizations in the company's operating areas.
Hallmark Cards, Inc.

Hallmark Cards, Inc.
Kansas City, Missouri
 
Bestowed 1993

Hallmark Cards, Inc. has been supporting the arts since it was founded in 1910. Through its support to the arts, Hallmark exercises its commitment to nurturing employees and their ideals. In 1992, the company allocated more than $26 million to the arts, which enable people of all ages to experience the arts.

Hallmark has benefited the arts, business and the community by:

  • Producing Hallmark Hall of Fame, the award-winning dramatic television series seen by more than 100 million individuals annually.
  • Enabling more than 120,000 children annually since 1968 to explore creativity by creating their own art through the Kaleidoscope program. The company maintains a permanent Kaleidoscope facility in its Kansas City headquarters and supports a traveling Kaleidoscope exhibition, which visits more than 20 cities each year.
  • Assisting minority students interested in pursuing art and writing careers by offering scholarships and summer internships at Hallmark through the Hallmark Minority Scholarship/Internship Program.
  • Recognizing students who have created the best painting or drawing in their geographic region with The Scholastic Arts Awards. Winning students receive the Hallmark Honor Prize cash awards.
  • Maintaining The Hallmark Art Collection and The Hallmark Photographic Collection, containing more than 4,000 works by leading American artists. Works from these collections are also exhibited in museums worldwide.
  • Encouraging employees to serve as volunteers for cultural organizations through The Hallmark Employee Volunteer Program. Hallmark's Greeting Card Design Division supports an arts program in the Kansas City Children's Mercy Hospital, Kansas City, Missouri.
  • Offering The Corporate Ticket Discount Program, which encourages Hallmark employees and their families to attend performances by paying half their ticket costs.
Target Corporation/Dayton Hudson Corporation

Target Corporation
(Received Award as Dayton Hudson Corporation)
Minneapolis, Minnesota
 
Bestowed 1992

Target Corporation [formerly Dayton Hudson Corporation] has been supporting the arts since the 1940s. Each year, the Target Foundation and the corporation's operating divisions – Target and Mervyn's, and the Department Store Division which includes Dayton's, Hudson's and Marshall Fields – commit approximately 40% of the corporation's annual philanthropic budget to support more than 1,000 cultural programs across the country. This amounted to $10.6 million in 1991.

Target has benefited the arts, business and the community by:

  • Developing a number of innovative initiatives with cultural organizations in the Twin Cities, its corporate headquarters area. In 1979, the corporation established its Comprehensive Arts Support Program (CASP) to support major arts institutions with annual general operating support to encourage their continued artistic growth. The Dayton Hudson/General Mills/Jerome Travel and Study Grant Program was initiated by Target in 1986 to provide artists and arts administrators with grants of up to $5,000 for professional development through travel and study. In 1991, the Dayton Hudson Artists Loan Fund was established to make loans to individual artists for artistic and business development. Arts Over AIDS was initiated by Target in 1988 in collaboration with Twin Cities arts organizations, individual artists and persons with AIDS to establish worksite policies and to provide information about AIDS education to arts organizations.
  • Working to broaden understanding among various cultures. For example, Target funded “Heritage,” a public television series about the contributions of Hispanic culture to the United States. The series was broadcast in 60 cities throughout the country, and used as a teaching tool in high school and college classrooms, as well as in community centers nationwide. Additionally, Mervyn's developed Expressions ‘90 to build audiences for the arts and preserve cultural heritages within Asian, African-American and Hispanic communities. Target was also a founding sponsor of the Arts Incubator Program, a collaboration between Wayne State University's Center for Urban Studies and the Arts League of Michigan, that provides African-American arts organizations with management training and expertise.
  • Bringing the arts into the lives of its customers and employees, and encouraging both groups to support the arts, as well. The corporation's retail operations sponsor fashion benefits that have raised more than $400,000 annually for arts organizations such as the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Chicago, Illinois; The Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit, Michigan; The Minneapolis Institute of Arts and the Walker Art Center Sculpture Garden, both in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Target has also worked with prominent artists, including David Hockney, Eiko Ishioka, Annie Liebowitz, Roy Lichtenstein and Frank Stella, to design shopping bags for its department stores.
  • Encouraging company executives to serve as members of the boards of directors, and employees to provide volunteer services to cultural organizations.
ChevronTexaco Corp./Texaco Inc.

ChevronTexaco Corp.
(Received Award as Texaco Inc.)
San Francisco, California
 
Bestowed 1992

ChevronTexaco [formerly Texaco, Inc.] has a long tradition of bringing quality cultural programs to diverse audiences, nationally and in communities where ChevronTexaco employees live and work. The company commits a significant portion of its philanthropic budget to the arts each year. This totaled more than $8 million in 1991.

ChevronTexaco has benefited the arts, business and the community by:

  • Sponsoring national live radio broadcasts of productions by The Metropolitan Opera since “The Marriage of Figaro” opened in December of 1940. This is the longest national sponsorship in broadcast history. The company expanded its involvement with The Met during the 1960s by creating the Texaco-Metropolitan Opera Radio Network, which broadcasts live performances to more than 300 classical music stations in the U.S. and Canada. In 1977, ChevronTexaco began sponsoring Met telecasts on public television, enabling the organization to reach an even broader audience. And in 1980, the company made a $5 million leadership grant to The Metropolitan Opera Centennial Fund. In 1990, ChevronTexaco celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Texaco-Metropolitan Opera Radio Broadcasts with the expansion of live broadcast transmissions to Europe over the Texaco-Metropolitan Opera International Radio Network. Over the five decades following the December 1940 broadcast, ChevronTexaco's sponsorship of The Met amounted to more than $115 million.
  • The company underwrites “Free Day” at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science (formerly Denver Museum of Natural History) for senior citizens, public admittance on “Texaco Star Nites” at The Hudson River Museum, Yonkers, New York, and “Art After Hours” at the Neuberger Museum at the State University of New York at Purchase, New York. The Katonah Arts Mile, created by ChevronTexaco, is part of an advertising campaign to help develop awareness of The Katonah Museum of Art, the John Jay Homestead State Historic Site and Caramoor Center for Music & the Arts, all in Katonah, New York.
  • Providing grants to hundreds of organizations across the United States each year, many of which support educational projects, as well as initiatives designed to reach underserved audiences and broaden audiences for the arts. The company has funded Music Center on Tour, an outreach program developed by the Performing Arts Center of Los Angeles County (formerly Los Angeles Music Center), Los Angeles, California, to introduce public elementary schoolchildren to a wide range of performance experiences; as well as the In the Wings Program created by The Ensemble Theater, Houston, Texas, offering more than 250 minority and low-income youths the opportunity to participate in theatrical training programs. “Texaco Stars in the Community,” a weekly cable television program that helps to increase audiences for small and mid-sized arts organizations in Westchester County, New York.
  • Encouraging increased attendance and support of museums and exhibitions through the company's visual arts programs.
  • Supporting a wide variety of cultural institutions in local communities, including the Lyric Opera of Chicago, the Houston Symphony Orchestra, the Performing Arts Center of Los Angeles County, the Oklahoma Arts Institute and the Tulsa Opera. Company executives and employees provide extensive volunteer support to many arts organizations throughout the country, and the company makes small grants to the local organizations for which they volunteer.
AT&T

AT&T
New York, New York
 
Bestowed 1992

AT&T has been supporting the arts for more than half a century with the belief that the arts are an indispensable form of expression and communication. The company designates approximately 15% of its annual philanthropic budget to the arts. This totaled nearly $5 million in 1991. AT&T's philanthropic support is enhanced by extensive advertising and marketing programs developed in conjunction with its sponsorships.

AT&T has benefited the arts, business and the community by:

  • Undertaking many landmark partnerships that have brought the arts to millions of individuals. “The Telephone Hour,” which began airing on radio stations throughout the country in 1940, introduced Americans to a number of great artists during its 28 years of broadcast. “Young People's Concerts,” hosted by Leonard Bernstein and televised nationwide from 1964-1968, provided millions of children with the opportunity to learn about classical music. And, AT&T: American Orchestras on Tour funded performances by 30 major orchestras in 284 American cities. AT&T has sponsored additional radio and television programs, including “Carnegie Hall Tonight,” “With Horowitz in Moscow” and “The MacNeil/Lehrer Newshour.”
  • Providing performing arts organizations with considerable support to create, produce and present new works. AT&T OnStage, one of the first major theatrical initiatives undertaken by a business, provides support to professional not-for-profit theaters to develop and present new plays and musicals. The AT&T New Plays for the Nineties Project encourages the production of new American plays and musical theater works by women and minority playwrights and composers. AT&T Dance Tour has enabled dance companies to tour to more than 200 American cities. And, the AT&T American Encore Program encourages the rehearsal and performance of works by 20th century American composers that have been premiered, but not frequently performed.
  • Sponsoring hundreds of major exhibitions and visual arts programs throughout the country, including “An American Vision: Three Generations of Wyeth Art,” “High and Low: Modern Art and Popular Culture,” “David Hockney: A Retrospective,” “Robert Longo,” “Robert Wilson's Visions,” and AT&T Portfolio Tours of The Met, a series of self-guided audio tours of some of the permanent collections of The Metropolitan Museum of Art. In 1991, the AT&T New Art/New Visions Program was established to support contemporary art by providing grants for the exhibition and acquisition of recently created work by living American artists.
  • Striving to make the arts a significant part of its corporate culture. The AT&T Corporate Art Collection contains more than 8,000 works of contemporary art. Nearly 200 AT&T executives are members of the boards of directors of cultural institutions throughout the country, and AT&T employees volunteer extensively with cultural organizations in their local communities. Employees in each of AT&T's operating areas recommend arts organizations in their local area for support. And, AT&T has a one-to-one employee matching gifts program for cultural institutions.
American Express Company

American Express Company
New York, New York
 
Bestowed 1992

American Express Company has been supporting the arts for more than 35 years. The company believes that its support enhances the quality of life for individuals throughout the world. Each year, American express allocates approximately 25% of its philanthropic budget to the arts. In 1991, this totaled $5 million.

American Express has benefited the arts, business and the community by:

  • Providing support for new and promising talent, including grants to The Fund for New American Plays, a joint project with The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and the President's Committee in the Arts and the Humanities; and the Foundation of Dramatists Guild/Young Playwrights Festival.
  • Underwriting programs to bring the arts into public schools, such as the New York Shakespeare Festival/Playwriting in the Schools and Jazzmobile, Inc./Arts Education Enrichment Program.
  • Sponsoring programs that encourage different cultures to better understand each other such as the American-Soviet Youth Orchestra's tour to 17 countries and the New York International Festival of the Arts.
  • Supporting new and innovative projects, such as the Artists' Files OnLine, developed by the Non-Traditional Casting Project, and New York City On Stage Accessibility Information, a 24-hour hotline created by the Theatre Development Fund.
  • Providing managerial expertise and financial support to help the Dance Theatre of Harlem resolve its financial problems and prevent it from disbanding.
  • Sponsoring numerous exhibitions, including “Rembrandt,” “Revelaciones: The Art of Manuel Alvarez Bravo,” “Annie Leibovitz Photographs 1970-1990,” “Diamonds are Forever: Artists and Writers on Baseball,” “Henri Cartier Bresson,” and “New Traditions: Thirteen Hispanic Photographers.” The company also sponsored the Micro Gallery: Computer Information Room, the first of its kind, in the National Gallery of Art in London.
  • Incorporating the arts into its Cause-Related Marketing Program in 1981. This program has produced an estimated $20 million for the arts and served as a model for how business and the arts can work together to achieve mutual goals.
  • Serving as a principal supporter of the Arts & Events Program in its world-wide headquarters in New York, New York.
  • Encouraging American Express Company executives and employees to serve as members of the boards of directors and to volunteer extensively for arts organizations in their communities. The company also matches employee gifts to cultural organizations on a one-to-one basis.
Altria Group, Inc./Philip Morris Companies Inc.

Altria Group, Inc.
(Received Award as Philip Morris Companies Inc.)
New York, New York
Bestowed 1992

Altria Group, Inc. [formerly Philip Morris Companies Inc.] began supporting the arts nearly 35 years ago to spark employee creativity, to embrace innovation and diversity, and to reinforce its progressive operating philosophy. Altria commits approximately 25% of its annual philanthropic budget to the arts, which amounts to millions of dollars each year.

Altria has benefited the arts, business and the community by:

  • Underwriting hundreds of art exhibitions, including “Pop and Op,” “The Vatican Collections: The Papacy and Art,” “Primitivism in 20th Century Art: Affinity of the Tribal and the Modern,” “The Precious Legacy: Judaic Treasures from the Czechoslovak State Collections,” “The Age of Sultan Suleyman the Magnificent,” “Memory and Metaphor: The Art of Romare Bearden 1940-1987,” “Albert Bierstadt: Art and Enterprise,” and “The Flowering of American Folk Art, 1776-1876.”
  • Supporting performing arts programs and tours to nurture creativity, build audiences and encourage the presentation of new works. Among the company's sponsorships are the Brooklyn Academy of Music's “Next Wave Festival;” national tours of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater and The Joffrey Ballet; and the Dance Project, which provides funding to more than 70 dance organizations that have contributed to the development of dance in the United States.
  • Becoming the first business to devote corporate advertisements exclusively to the arts to encourage the public to attend arts programs and to increase public awareness of its support of the arts. The company has also created documentary films in connection with several of its exhibition sponsorships, which have been broadcast on public television.
  • Sponsoring “Americans and the Arts,” a nationwide public opinion survey since 1973. Additionally, company executives frequently make presentations about the importance of the arts, the merits of corporate sponsorship of the arts and the need for government funding of the arts.
  • Encouraging smaller arts organizations to pool resources and develop alternative funding strategies as a result of the company's corporate leadership grant to establish the Arts Forward Fund, a consortium of business and foundation grantsmakers designed to encourage arts organizations to be innovative and forward thinking in their planning.
  • Establishing in 1983, a branch of the Whitney Museum of American Art in its New York headquarters, and displaying works of contemporary art from the company's art collection throughout its headquarters building, as well as in its offices around the world.
  • Encouraging executives to serve on the boards of many cultural organizations, and employees to volunteer extensively with arts organizations. The company also has a two-to-one employee matching gifts program for cultural institutions.

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