Office Art Flourishes As Lucrative Business

Art Business News, August, 2000 by Maja Wolff

"Because we have a rental and a leasing option, more and more clients are coming to us," said Nowicki. "They don't want to be burdened with purchasing the work straight out. Start-ups want to keep their disposable income available, so leasing works well for them. Renting allows clients to rotate works until they find the right fit for their spaces. Then they can commit to purchasing once they feel comfortable with their choices."

At Artisimo, they offer a variety of options to corporate clients, including leasing. Another interesting--and fruitful--arrangement is the one they have with Roy's restaurants. The restaurants pay a monthly fee (which Artisimo splits with the artists) to show art supplied and installed by the gallery, but the works can be purchased by anyone at any time, coming off the Roy's wall within 48 hours of the sale and replaced by something else.

Artisimo also finds itself working with other galleries and publishers in a quest to please corporate customers. "Our goal is to provide any type of art for anybody looking for it," said Wenk, even if it means outsourcing.

The challenges to satisfying corporate clients abound, including the ubiquitous issue often referred to as "art by committee." Said Rhodes Smith, "Art speaks emotions that cannot be put into words. Art by committee has many members, each with their own emotional translation of what they are looking at ... But therein lies the challenge that is very rewarding when the collection comes together."

Nowicki knows well the rewards of successful art-by-committee maneuverings. "When I first go to look at a space and take photos, I sit down with the client and get a sense for what type of work they enjoy and what feeling they want their space to evoke," she said. "When I visited this particular client, I was greeted by a panel of nine art advisors, all with very different agendas. I love feedback, and I want people to be excited about the paintings in their offices, but this was excessive. After weeks of deliberating, we finally came to a decision about what worked best in the space. It was difficult and time-consuming trying to make everyone happy. What surprised me the most was how passionate everyone got about art. It made me realize that what they saw everyday when they came to work was very important to them. After I finished the installation, I received e-mails from almost every one on staff thanking me for bring art into their lives and telling me about co-workers arguing over who got what in their space."

The Pitfalls and Drawbacks

Indeed, people are passionate about art. However, they do often get distracted by work deadlines, which often leads to payment challenges and the fine art of finagling through billing departments, according to Hang's McBurney.

A frustration expressed by many who deal with corporate art clients is the time-budget issue. "Typically, with corporations, they come to us when their project is almost complete, and they need art in two weeks," lamented Wenk of Artisimo. Art "is usually the last thing, and you're working with leftover budgets."