ART MATTERS INDEED

I will never forget the day a call came in from the CFO of ING North Americas. "How fast can you get art up on the walls?" It was the right after the financial crisis in 2007 and among countless other businesses, the otherwise lucrative art consulting industry came to a screeching halt overnight. The company had just moved into a high rise building in Midtown Manhattan and their CEO understood that putting their existing art collection up on the walls would help to calm things down in an immediate and tangible way.

Executives at this company knew that artwork replacing blank walls would matter to worried employees concerned about job stability. They knew that art selection for each office would matter for a sense of inclusion and to promote an interactive dialogue among employees. They knew that art decor matters to individuate and enliven an otherwise neutral space. They understood that art education matters for employees who have limited time to get to galleries and museums. They knew that art composition matters to the observer, whether conscious or not, to serve as a catalyst for thinking outside the box.

These wise executives instinctively knew that an investment in a corporate art program would improve their employees' sense of well being through camaraderie, creativity and inspiration, which ultimately benefits their bottom line. Art matters indeed.