Editor’s Note: This story has been revised from an earlier version to correctly reflect the amount of per capita spending on the arts in Louisiana.
If you’re thinking of sprucing up the office with some original artwork, consider that you won’t just be making the workplace more attractive. You’ll also be enhancing your company’s brand, image and reputation, while making it easier to attract talent.
In a speech today to the Rotary Club of Baton Rouge, Jason Andreasen, director of the Baton Rouge Gallery, cited numerous studies that show why adding art to the workplace is a good investment that benefits businesses in several ways.
“The right art in the right place gives your workspace a unique identity with a story to tell that can enhance your corporate image and brand,” he says. “There is also a correlation between art and productivity.”
One survey found that 82% of employees said art was important to their environment and their work. Other benefits of having art in the workplace include reducing stress among employees, he says.
While it’s important to have art in the workplace, data also suggest that communities that support the arts do much better economically and have an easier time recruiting top talent to their areas.
Unfortunately, Louisiana lags behind most other states in the U.S. in that arena, Andreasen says. Louisiana ranks 40th for support of the arts, with just 48 cents per capita devoted to arts spending. Out of the 15 southern states, it ranks 11th.
“College graduates are moving to places with larger concentrations of creative,” he says. “High concentration of the arts leads to greater social cohesion.”
Andreasen, who has headed the 50-year-old Baton Rouge Gallery since 2008, urged his audience to support the arts.
“Arts have the power to transform us,” he says.
—Stephanie Riegel
