The value of art in the workplace

A curated art collection in the workplace can provide benefits to both employees and clients. In fact, studies have found that art has enormous benefits for employees, increasing their productivity by 35% and wellbeing by 42%.

An art collection also provides the first visual interaction that a prospective client has with their potential partner and can be crucial in making the right impression.

At ARTIQ, we are seeing increasing demand for curated collections in corporate buildings. This trend is set to further accelerate and is a common point of discussion among the board of the Culture Mile Business Partnership, which we sit on. People want their spaces to reflect the cultural landscape and to feel inspired by their surroundings.

Similarly, businesses want to use collections to demonstrate their values, and increasingly commitments to sustainability and diversity feature prominently in what companies are requesting.

We are also seeing an increasing demand for leasing art collections, which are rotated quarterly or bi-annually. The additional fillip of leasing a collection is that it generates a regular income for the artists whose works are rented. When a collection has a local focus, there is the added benefit of putting money back into the local cultural economy.

Where we have seen an overall shift in corporate clients opting for artwork, we can track this down to individual industries. For example, we are seeing law firms, such as our client Mayer Brown, focusing on representation and diversity within their art.

With our financial clients, we are seeing a demand for environmentally conscious artwork, while our tech clients are keen on tech-enabled art.

In the thick of changing times, art has the potential to communicate values on a mass scale, as well as support the creative community in a sustained way.

Tazie Taysom is commercial director at ARTIQ