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Contract, November, 2000
Art
and Corporate America Since the advent of the modern office in the early 1950s, art collections have figured prominently in the culture of corporate America. Companies like Chase Bank, Cummins Engine, Prudential Insurance, Xerox, IBM and Unilever have virtually defined their headquarters as sure places for exhibiting curated, world-class collections that could compete with many museums. Since unveiling its monumental building near Wall Street in 1959 with a commissioned Dubuffet sculpture and Noguchi fountain, Chase has amassed a collection numbering over 17,000 objects, ranging from contemporary oils to Native American rugs, Korean screens, and vintage photography. Some prominent securities companies, law firms and the big six accounting firms have also kept pace in the private sector with impressive, curated collections. Beyond the obvious need to make workplace more pleasant for the employees who inhabit them, many corporate visionaries (usually at the rank of CEO) throughout the 1970s and 1980s came to view art programs as a platform for goodwill and respectability. In many instances, Fortune 500 companies have reached out to the arts community and generously sponsored competitions on a local or international basis for original works to showcase in their facilities. Based on American workers' increasing 24/7 dedication to their offices, art has become recognized as an essential component of the built environment. Judith Jedlicka of the Business Committee for the Arts states, "Quite simply art is necessary to humanize the workplace. It adds dimension and reflects different points of view. It should be seen as a business asset, not an afterthought." This creates an expanded responsibility for the architect or interiors specialist designing office space. The designer's role now encompasses the broader psychological territory of selecting and placing art for optimum results. Whether working directly with a client or in collaboration with a well-trained art consultant, the designer must have the ability to effectively converge art and architecture into a harmonious composition. New planning concepts dictate new approaches The corporate downsizing and exploding technology of the past 10 years have created a dramatic shift in the landscape of corporate facilities. The private office, long the domain of executives and junior staff alike, has gradually been replaced by open plan workstations. While traditional offices with their two to four available walls created their own set of challenges in terms of art requirements, today's amorphous office environment presents a more subtle problem for designers to address. With fewer walls and vast expanses of open work areas the rule, art must be chosen selectively with a new perspective on scale and visual impact. Given the proliferation of imposing high-tech equipment and the cluttered, free form work style of Internet and new media companies, one might logically question the necessity of art in any format. In fact, the screen fatigue and kinetic activities of e-commerce workers make a cogent argument for the use of art for visual relief and quiet contemplation. Location strategy is key in these places. The inevitable expanse of core walls and circulation car doors, as well as public spaces, offer ideal placement opportunities to engage staff in their continuous traffic patterns. Selections must be sufficiently large scale and high impact to hold their own in an open environment and be visible from a variety of vantage points. And designers must size up conference rooms, team areas, dining spaces, and other ancillary facilities with an eye for art that provides a diverting, psychological release from the monotony of the workstation environment. Avoiding repetition and sameness, art programs should be memorable for their diversity and eclectic composition capitalizing on the virtually unlimited choices of media and subject matter available to the marketplace. Thinking creatively in budget-driven times It's no understatement that budgets for corporate art, like the spaces in which it resides, have been vastly downsized. The grand collections amassed in the 1970s and 1980s have been largely supplanted by more modest programs, perhaps the result of taking the backseat to construction, technological equipment and furniture, which continue to escalate in cost. Factor in the fact that fine art overall has greatly appreciated in value, and adds up to good news for long-term collectors-but provides challenges to designers and their clients embarking on a new corporate office fit out. For the first-time corporate collector, simple straightforward budgeting strategy is to a assign a level of importance (and expenditure) to acquisitions by area or type of space. On a schedule of 1 to 4, reception areas, public spaces, executive offices, and wide-expanse open office areas rates a 1; conference rooms and cafeterias a 2; middle management offices and team areas rate of 3, and low or back of the house areas should receive a 4 rating. Once a total scope budget has been established, an art location plan can be used for assigning magnitude of cost estimates by individual piece. In those areas with a 1 rating, consider locating the most important acquisitions, perhaps paintings, three-dimensional works, glass or ceramics, sculpture, drawings and watercolors, photographs or monoprints. Spaces assigned a 2 to 4 rating are candidates for a mixture of works on paper, such as less-expensive photography, prints, and perhaps, exceptional posters. The rating concept should be implemented at the earliest possible point in the interior design schedule, perhaps as soon as a space plans finalized, to ensure that no location is overlooked. Early identification of hanging locations is also critical, to ensure that the proper lighting is specified in the architect's drawings. Consultants make valuable contributions Why hire an art consultant? The reasons are numerous and varied, but typically center on three factors: Knowledge, professional experience and time savings. The role of the consultant is to provide the most objective advice on buying and selling works of art for a corporate or private collection. This requires extensive familiarity with the art market and access, i.e. where pieces can be bought and at the best market prices. Further, it entails advice on the value and quality-and ultimately the suitability-of potential purchases. For architects and interiors firms designing a corporate facility, the consultant is an invaluable partner, who is responsive to the architecture and esthetic of the space where the art will be hung or placed and can dedicate the time-consuming research required to find works that are unique and affordable. For the corporate end-user, the consultant can provide guidelines for establishing an art committee, private negotiations, authentication and appraisal services, and a manual for cataloging, maintenance and rotating pieces. A collection should be regularly inventoried and evaluated for redeployment, reuse, and reframing. In short, the value of a consultant extends far beyond the discovery and installation phase and ensures that art will sustain its importance as a valuable asset for many years. Judy Selkowitz '62 and Art Advisory Services Interview with...Judith Selkowitz Art and the Images of Corporate America |