Corporate buyers are looking to complete their space in an interesting way. They also select paintings, photography and sculptures for their employees’ enjoyment and to project a certain image. Some view their art as an extension of their corporate work life. I enjoy the challenge of coming up with a plan that reflects what a client wants to say about itself.
I’ve been an art adviser to corporations, law firms, developers, trade associations and other organizations for 36 years. Much of my work comes from referrals. I’m often contacted by a managing partner of a law firm or a C.E.O. or firm administrator. If, after interviewing me, a group goes ahead with the project, it forms an art committee to work with me.
Every project is different, depending on the client’s goals. One company wanted to emphasize that it’s a global organization. I suggested a series of antique textiles — tapestries, paisley shawls, 18th-century English bed coverings, Indian embroideries, batiks, costumes and ethnographic artwork — from locations around the globe where the company has offices. We were surprised to learn that one of the shawls was a rare textile that experts believed had been lost. The client became so involved in the company’s collection that he was asked to join the board of the Textile Museum in Washington.
I’ve found that much exciting work today involves merging art and technology. Artists are using computer-generated images, LED lighting, video and other technology, and it’s attracting interest from companies.
Some organizations aren’t sure what they want when we start together. At a law firm I worked with, I learned that many partners had engineering backgrounds. I suggested devoting a portion of the collection to works of art in glass, either blown or cast in molds. I thought the glass-making process would interest people with that type of background.
People have different tastes, so the committees I work with often make trade-offs. When I propose artwork, I present electronic images from the artists or galleries, for example. If two or three people agree and a fourth is reluctant, that person might give in and say that she’ll get what she likes another time. A committee that’s too large doesn’t work well together, and one outspoken member can make the process uncomfortable for the others.
Organizations learn that selecting art is a process. Many groups that are compiling a collection buy artwork over time, as they can afford it. We come up with a master plan according to the budget. Currently, I’m curating a series of rotating exhibits that change four times a year. The organization’s goal is to encourage local artists, and the work of one or two artists is included at a time.
Once art is installed, I often give clients and their employees a tour of their acquisitions. I discuss the art’s context, including the period when it was made, and tell them about the artist. I go over this with the art committee when the art is selected, but everyone else gets to hear this introduction. Employees who understand why the art was selected are more likely to enjoy it.
Organizations that buy art are investing in themselves — and in more than a monetary sense. Art speaks to culture, self-expression and creativity. Corporations appreciate the reasons for art in the workplace more than they did when I started my company, and developers and architects know to consider art at the beginning of a project so it can be visually integrated into the setting.
WHEN organizations buy artwork, they are supporting the arts. That can mean buying from local artists, but it extends beyond that. Art touches lives. One client, a developer, had a perfect opportunity to do this. His Terrell Place project, formerly a department store, was a site of protest against racial segregation in the 1950s.We decided to reflect this event in the building and asked Elizabeth Catlett, a distinguished black artist, to create three large bronze sculptures for the lobby. To accompany them, we chose murals that illustrate the concepts of liberty and equality.
People who view the art and know the building’s history have told me that the artwork has brought them to tears.
As told to Patricia R. Olsen.