Cyrille Conan, ENEPPOUEZ (counterbalance), 2022. Paint and vinyl. © Cyrille Conan. Photo courtesy of Mel Taing.
Finding ourselves at the kinetic cusp of a New Year, we are now slowing down to reflect on the art programs, acquisitions, commissions, and exhibitions that our team collectively facilitated over the last twelve months.
This past summer saw art_works execute our biggest corporate project to date (details of which we are excited to share soon). Following a year replete with active fieldwork in office spaces, it came as no surprise to stumble upon recent data commissioned by Brookfield Properties and compiled by Prospectus Global. The findings of this study confirmed what we have witnessed firsthand — the overwhelmingly positive benefits of including art in the workplace for office workers’ wellbeing, creativity, and connectivity. Among roughly 3,000 workers that were surveyed across the UK, seven in ten agreed that having visually interesting and stimulating artworks in the office positively impacts their wellbeing. By enriching a space with art, productivity rose by 17%; engaging workers in the art selection or commission process boosts this number to 32%. With the disruption to workplace culture engendered by the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent uptick in hybrid and remote modes of work, companies are now re-examining their working environments and exploring different ways of advancing employee engagement.
Installation Detail at Prentiss House, 2022.
In addition to its ability to offer a momentary visual interlude from pixelated screens, we have observed that including art in the workplace promotes a spirit of unity among employees, as well as a sense of belonging between office dwellers and their surrounding communities. For many of our projects across the USA and Canada, such as this global initiative or this hotel’s art program, we forge meaningful and lasting connections with artists who are local to the area, thereby fashioning a bridge that extends outwards and connects to a larger cultural milieu. We punctuate each acquisition or commission we facilitate for companies with museum-equivalent interpretive labels that encourage further engagement with an artists’ practice or local art organizations and resources.
Installation Detail, “Convergence,” MITIMCo, Cambridge, MA, co-curated by avec x art_works. Photo courtesy of Mel Taing.
Other recent projects, such as this pop-up show, involved collaborating with avec, MITIMCo, and a group of community stakeholders to execute a curated exhibition highlighting a hyper-local selection of artists. This exhibition additionally included a collateral schedule of interactive artist-led workshops, performances, and events that we designed with the intention of bringing community together. This reciprocal approach has proven to be an effective way to simultaneously make space for artists and enhance an organization’s relationship to its surrounding neighbourhoods – two ideals that are the cornerstone of our mission-driven practice with companies.
Gupi Ranganathan leading an artist workshop for "Convergence," MITIMCo, Cambridge, MA, co-curated by avec x art_works. Photo courtesy of Gupi Ranganathan.
Detail of communal artwork from workshop led by Gupi Ranganathan for "Convergence," MITIMCo, Cambridge, MA, co-curated by avec x art_works. Photo courtesy of Gupi Ranganathan.
Within the workplace, participatory art commissions offer even more ways to engage employees. Pre-installation and concept development stages are key phases of the commission process during which we encourage our clients to invite their employees to take an active role in designing their office environment. User engagement surveys, participatory murals, rotating art programs, and artwork replete with meaningful visual puzzles are all exciting opportunities that we have utilized to cultivate sustained visual stimulation, shake off mundane routines, and inject bursts of creativity and inspiration into the everyday.
Installation Detail of “Convergence,” MITIMCo, Cambridge, MA, co-curated by avec x art_works. Photo courtesy of Stephanie Carress.
Prolonged exposure to art has correlated effects on broader matters of physical and mental health. As we previously outlined in this post, art plays an integral role in preventing illnesses as well as in reducing feelings of frustration. Creating energizing moments via art can ultimately replenish stores of mental energy, combat tunnel vision, and lower levels of stress, fatigue, and anxiety. By incorporating intricate and unexpected visuals into any space – which we have done in the form of immersive murals, animated wall activations, large-scale sculptures, print series, and even textured fibre installations – we are all able to better focus.
Ben Sloat, Academy of Light (Weymouth), 2020. Neon, mixed-use building materials, posters. © Ben Sloat. Photo courtesy of Ben Sloat.
The benefits of bringing art into the workplace are considerable, and include: higher levels of productivity; palpable boosts in employee satisfaction; improved physical and mental wellbeing; enhanced work atmosphere and camaraderie; increased creative thinking, and so on. To that end, we emphasize: art does work.