Ms. Emily Peck

What’s so important about creativity?

Posted by Ms. Emily Peck, Oct 25, 2018


Ms. Emily Peck

No matter what industry you work in, Americans are seeing the value of creativity in their jobs. From our recent public opinion poll, Americans Speak Out About the Arts in 2018, 55% of employed Americans agree that their job requires them to be creative. And an even larger percentage, 60%, believe that the more creative and innovative they are at their job, the more successful they are in the workplace. And how are they finding their inner creative spark? For many businesses, the answer lies in partnering with the arts. Our recently released Business Contributions to the Arts 2018 Survey, conducted in partnership with The Conference Board, asked business leaders if the arts contribute to stimulating creative thinking and problem solving—and 53% of them agreed that it does.

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Ms. Emily Peck

Arts & Business Partnerships Continue to Strengthen Both Sectors, Research Finds

Posted by Ms. Emily Peck, Oct 10, 2018


Ms. Emily Peck

Last week, we celebrated arts and business partnerships at our annual BCA 10: Best Businesses Partnering with the Arts gala. We heard inspiring stories about why businesses value the arts. BCA Leadership Award winner Chandrika Tandon shared how her passion for music provided passion and engagement at her job. Fifth Third Bank spoke about how the arts helped them heal and respond after a mass shooting at their headquarters. Phillips66 shared how the arts create a strong company culture. These stories align with the data from the just released Business Contributions to the Arts survey, which found, among other positive results, that business support for the arts is on the rise. 

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Ms. Emily Peck

The Arts Are Part of the Solution

Posted by Ms. Emily Peck, Nov 16, 2017


Ms. Emily Peck

To recognize the important role of the business community in advancing the arts, Americans for the Arts annually presents the BCA 10 awards celebrating ten businesses for their innovative partnerships with the arts. These businesses range in size and location but share a passion for engaging with the arts to advance their companies and communities; and from our work around the country, we know that they are not alone and that there is increased engagement from the business community in support of the arts. That is why it is not surprising to see that the 2017 edition of Giving in Numbers produced by CECP, in partnership with the Conference Board, showed an increase in arts funding from the corporate community between 2014 and 2016.

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Ms. Emily Peck

Arts Support = Achievement of CSR Goals

Posted by Ms. Emily Peck, Apr 28, 2015


Ms. Emily Peck

“Our Board often asks why we aren’t giving more money to education, but they never ask why we aren’t giving more to the arts.”

This was the response from one corporate funder interviewed by the Animating Democracy program of Americans for the Arts for the report Corporate Social Responsibility & the Arts.

Arts organizations face a unique challenge, as they are often viewed as an extra or nice initiative to fund, though not essential in comparison to other charitable causes. Corporate Social Responsibility & the Arts demonstrates that this is not actually the case. Arts organizations can—and do— help businesses address key goals.

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Ms. Emily Peck

Creating Lasting & Successful pARTnerships

Posted by Ms. Emily Peck, Nov 18, 2011


Ms. Emily Peck

Emily Peck

Emily Peck

All week, ARTSblog has been featuring stories about how and why the arts can help businesses achieve their business goals.

We know from talking to all of you at conferences, on webinars, by email, and various other ways that these partnerships have been happening everywhere to enhance the critical thinking and creativity skills of the corporate workforce and help businesses achieve other goals including recruitment, retention, and team building.

But don’t take my word for it, check out these videos:

Looking to enhance team spirit and encourage teamwork, some companies participate in battle of the bands. These competitions take place in local communities and at the Fortune Battle of the Bands sponsored by NAMM. Check out this clip from Progressive Corps band “The Messengers.”

For 25 years, Kaiser Permanente’s Educational Theatre Program has partnered with theaters to teach more than 15 million people lessons that impact the company’s bottom-line about healthy eating, peer pressure, drug and alcohol abuse and more. Watch excerpts from the program and hear from students, teachers and doctors about the results:

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Ms. Emily Peck

The pARTnership Movement: When Arts and Businesses Partner, Everyone Profits

Posted by Ms. Emily Peck, Jan 19, 2012


Ms. Emily Peck

The first meeting of the Business Committee for the Arts, Inc.

When David Rockefeller, the CEO of Chase Bank, gathered business leaders together to form the Business Committee for the Arts (now a division of Americans for the Arts) he understood the important role of the arts in advancing business goals.

In this first speech, Rockefeller said, “From an economic standpoint, such involvement can mean direct and tangible benefits. It can provide a company with extensive publicity and advertising, a brighter public reputation, and an improved corporate image. It can build better customer relations, a readier acceptance of company products, and a superior appraisal of their quality. Promotion of the arts can improve morale of employees and help attract qualified personnel.”

David Rockefeller is not the only CEO who has understood that importance of partnering with the arts. Countless CEOs, HR managers, marketing executives, and corporate foundation officers have spoken about the benefits that have resulted from these partnerships.

Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Booz Allen Hamilton Ralph W. Schrader, said, “The arts inspire each of us in different ways, provoke thought, spur creativity, and connect us with one another in a shared experience. These are essential qualities of a strong and successful business as well.”

Honorary Chairman and Co-founder of H&R Block, Inc. Henry W. Bloch believes, “It is in the best interest of every business--no matter its size--to support the arts. Beyond their intrinsic value, the arts add to the economic vitality and quality of life of our communities. They also unleash creative ideas in and out of the workplace, foster dialogues, and increase understanding among people.”

However, there are too many business leaders who are unaware of the value of partnering with the arts.

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Ms. Emily Peck

The Many Ways to Connect Arts & Business (from The pARTnership Movement)

Posted by Ms. Emily Peck, Mar 28, 2013


Ms. Emily Peck

Emily Peck Emily Peck

Last week, I left snowy New York City to spend some time in sunny Ft. Lauderdale at the invitation of the Broward Cultural Division to talk with arts organizations about the many ways they can partner with local businesses.

We discussed how to build a successful and meaningful partnership by thinking of the needs of business first, and how to look beyond the usual suspects when thinking about potential business partners.

We were joined by local business leaders from Florida Power and Light and Merrimac Ventures who spoke about how partnering with the arts helped their business engage new customers, reach new audiences, and enhance the quality of life for their communities. For more tips on creating partnerships check out our Building pARTnerships on Your Own toolkit.

This type of training session is just one way you can use the resources of The pARTnership Movement in your community. Here are some other ideas:

  • Tell your story: Promote great arts and business partnerships on twitter (#artsandbiz), Facebook, and YouTube. Don't forget to let us know, too!
  • Give a presentation at your local chamber of commerce about how the arts can help local businesses. See how it worked in Montgomery County, MD! 
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Ms. Emily Peck

Embracing the Velocity of Change (Part 3) (from Arts Watch)

Posted by Ms. Emily Peck, Oct 26, 2011


Ms. Emily Peck

Emily Peck

Emily Peck

The theme of this year’s Grantmakers in the Arts Conference reflected the big challenges facing arts funders and also arts organizations. The changes in demographics and changes in technology are issues that are being confronted across the country.

It seemed appropriate to gather for these conversations in San Francisco, a city in close proximity to the technological advances coming out of Silicon Valley and a state which became a majority minority state in 1999, about 42 years before we will become a majority minority country.

That last fact came from the keynote speech by Dr. Manuel Pastor, professor of American studies and ethnicity at the University of Southern California. Dr. Pastor successfully managed to make census data entertaining and relevant as he addressed how California and the rest of the country will need to address shifting demographics in order to stay relevant. The ideas presented in his speech resonated throughout the conference as funders reflected on how to address these changes in their grantmaking.

The James Irvine Foundation has been keeping close watch on these changes and the impact of these changes on the arts organizations they fund. In a breakout session, Arts Program Director Josephine Ramirez provided an inside look into how the Irvine Foundation evolved their arts funding guidelines to better address the needs of arts organizations and the community. Here is a video that does a great job illustrating the foundation’s arts funding priorities:

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Ms. Emily Peck

Supporting Arts Education is Good Business

Posted by Ms. Emily Peck, Sep 13, 2011


Ms. Emily Peck

Emily Peck

Emily Peck

What is the role of business in ensuring that our educational system provides the workforce that they need?

Businesses have been addressing this concern in a number of ways including forming partnerships with arts organizations and creating signature arts education programs to prepare students from elementary school through college to be successful in careers in both the for-profit and nonprofit world.

Training the Future Workforce to be Creative and Innovative

Businesses have a vested interest in ensuring that the future workforce is prepared for jobs that might not even exist yet and one of the top skills this workforce needs is creativity. 1,500 CEOs interviewed by IBM picked creativity as the most important leadership attribute.

According to the study, “creative leaders invite disruptive innovation, encourage others to drop outdated approaches and take balanced risks. They are open-minded and inventive in expanding their management and communication styles.”

Some businesses have taken on the challenge of building the workforce that we need and created signature corporate philanthropy programs that are training the next generation of employees in creativity and innovation through the arts. Here are two examples but there are many more:

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Ms. Emily Peck

There's a Movement Afoot...

Posted by Ms. Emily Peck, Jun 18, 2011


Ms. Emily Peck

Emily Peck

Emily Peck

On Friday, as the sun made it's daily appearance over the Bay, Ray Pohlman from AutoZone asked us to pretend it was February in Minnesota and resist the urge to head out to the pool. For those of us who took his advice, it was worth it.

We got to hear why companies you might not expect including an auto parts company and an airplane manufacturer care about the arts.

According to Ray Pohlman, supporting the arts at AutoZone is for business reasons. They wouldn't do it if wasn't meaningful to the bottom line.

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Ms. Emily Peck

A 4-Star General, a Dancer, & 900 Foundation Leaders Go to a Conference...

Posted by Ms. Emily Peck, Jun 06, 2011


Ms. Emily Peck

Emily Peck

Emily Peck

At last fall’s Independent Sector Conference, more than 900 leaders from the foundation world, corporate philanthropy programs, and nonprofit organizations were moved by the arts...literally, as choreographer Liz Lerman had conference attendees out of their seats reenacting conference highlights through dance (Check out the video below!).

Inviting Ms. Lerman to bring her magic to the conference was just one of the ways that Americans with the Arts partnered with Independent Sector to infuse the event with the arts.

Americans for the Arts President & CEO Bob Lynch explained why Americans for the Arts was ensuring that the arts were woven throughout the conference in his presentation at the opening plenary session

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Ms. Emily Peck

Five Items Worth Sharing on the Importance of Creativity (from Arts Watch)

Posted by Ms. Emily Peck, Sep 08, 2010


Ms. Emily Peck

I’ve been reading and seeing a lot about creativity and innovation lately. Here are five items that I thought are worth sharing. What do you have to add to the list? What great examples are you seeing of how the arts are inspiring creativity in your communities?

  1. In an article in Fast Company, Nike CEO Mark Parker talks about the dinners he regularly hosts with artists to kick around ideas.  
  2. At our annual convention in Baltimore, Jonathan Spector, President of The Conference Board, (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u2B0bSBCvJY) spoke about the role of an arts education in instilling the creative thinking which is needed to bring about the productivity and innovation which everyone business leaders is looking for these days.
  3. CEOs interviewed in The 2010 IBM Global CEO Study list creativity as the most important leadership competency needed to manage in an increasing complex world.

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Ms. Emily Peck

Why and How Businesses Support the Arts: Business Committee for the Arts National Triennial Survey

Posted by Ms. Emily Peck, Dec 07, 2010


Ms. Emily Peck

Since 1968, the Business Committee for the Arts (BCA) has conducted a field-wide survey of businesses to determine why they support the arts, to what extent they support the arts, and how they support the arts. Conducted by Shugoll Research, the 2010 BCA Triennial Survey of Business Support to the Arts is the only survey in the United States that tracks support from small, midsize, and large companies to provide the most complete view of the arts funding landscape from businesses nationwide.

Why Business Supports the Arts

What’s the most important determinant of why a business that gives to the arts might increase its support? Profitability. Businesses make decisions based on bottom line. After profitability, respondents chose a “link to social causes or education” as the next most important factor in deciding to support the arts.

For example, Northeast Utilities, a 2010 BCA 10 award recipient, has an ongoing partnership with one Hartford area elementary school.  A $500,000 grant from the NU Foundation provided funding to enable The R.J. Kinsella Elementary School to transform itself into a K-8 arts-based magnet school.  According to Northeast Utilities Chairman, President and CEO, Charles W. Shivery, “Northeast Utilities and its companies embrace the important role played by the arts in energizing the social, economic and educational fabric of our communities.”

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Ms. Emily Peck

History repeats itself…

Posted by Ms. Emily Peck, Dec 10, 2010


Ms. Emily Peck

Emily Peck

In 1968, 7,000 companies were asked how much they give to the arts and why they give to the arts.  In the original BCA Survey of Business Support of the Arts which was conducted in partnership with the National Industrial Conference Board we learned that businesses give to the arts to improve corporate image, improve sales and services, aid employee recruitment, attract other industries to the area, encourage tourism and benefit employees, community and society.

Sound familiar?

In the current study, many of these same reasons still resonate with the business community.  79% of businesses say that the arts increase name recognition while 74% say that the arts offer networking opportunities and the potential to develop new business.  66% say that the arts stimulate creative thinking, problem solving and team building.  While half agree that arts support has the potential to increase their bottom line and slightly fewer believe that the arts can offer special benefits to their employees and that the arts can help recruit and retain employees.

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Ms. Emily Peck

A Driving Force in Creativity and Innovation (from Arts Watch)

Posted by Ms. Emily Peck, Mar 09, 2011


Ms. Emily Peck

Emily Peck

Emily Peck

In 2008, if you were to talk about the auto industry, you’d probably talk about the emergency bailout from the federal government that impacted auto companies around the world.

The auto industry was struggling and as a result drastically pulling back their funding from the Detroit arts organizations that depended on this support.

These companies began looking for new ideas and they seemed to have found solutions through the arts. The new language coming out of the auto industry includes words like “creativity”, “innovation”, “design” and even “arts”…words that I’m sure most of us can get behind.

Here is just a sampling of ways the auto industry is showcasing the arts and being creative.

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Ms. Emily Peck

Enhancing Communities Through the Arts

Posted by Ms. Emily Peck, May 04, 2011


Ms. Emily Peck

Sunoco volunteers helped paint three panels of a 42-panel mural as part of Philadelphia’s “This We Believe” city-wide mural project.

If I had to come up with a theme for the month of April, it would be the role of the arts in enhancing communities.

I spent time in Washington, DC, at our National Arts Advocacy Day on April 4-5, and then followed that with a trip to Philadelphia to attend the Council on Foundations annual conference and the U.S. Chamber’s Corporate Community Investment conference.

At all three of these events, arts and business leaders spoke about the important role the arts play in building strong and vibrant communities which leads to numerous benefits including attracting and retaining a strong workforce and enhanced civic engagement. 

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Ms. Emily Peck

The Arts = Prime Real Estate

Posted by Ms. Emily Peck, May 13, 2011


Ms. Emily Peck

Emily Peck

Emily Peck

On Tuesday, the Metropolitan Museum named a new board chairman, Daniel Brodsky, managing director of the Brodsky Organization, a company that owns and manages apartments throughout Manhattan. As the board leader of a major NYC cultural destination, Brodsky understands the value of the arts to his city and his business.

When asked why CEOs of real estate companies are chairing the boards of many of the major NYC cultural institutions, Brodsky said in the New York Times that they were “’very concerned about the viability of the city,’ which cultural activity contributes to, ‘so there’s a logical reason for real estate people to be involved.’” 

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Ms. Emily Peck

Business Leaders as Arts Advocates (from Arts Watch)

Posted by Ms. Emily Peck, Dec 09, 2009


Ms. Emily Peck

A few weeks ago, business leaders gathered in New York City to celebrate the companies named to THE BCA TEN: Best Companies Supporting the Arts in America.

I was encouraged and inspired by the passion that CEOs from across the country had for supporting the arts and arts education even in a time of economic uncertainty. These CEOs truly value the role the arts could play in recruiting and retaining employees, building communities, stimulating the economy, and inspiring creativity.

The tremendous support for the arts from the business leaders resonated with all of the people in the room, and reaffirmed the role these companies play in the arts in their communities and nationally. A recent Harris Poll reported that 37 percent of U.S. adults find business leaders to be the most persuasive endorsers of products, beating athletes (21 percent), television or movie stars (18 percent), singers or musicians (14 percent), and former political figures (10 percent). Listening to these CEOs, I could see how this is true.

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Ms. Emily Peck

Corporate Culture (from Arts Watch)

Posted by Ms. Emily Peck, Oct 28, 2009


Ms. Emily Peck

Across the country, bankers painted, insurance agents rocked, and lawyers took to the stage to demonstrate their creativity and passion for the arts.  Take a look at what these organizations are doing, just a sample of the creative partnerships that have been popping up in the arts and business world.

In Nashville, businesses put together bands and performed in the First Annual Music City Corporate Band Challenge. Bankers, insurance salesmen, plumbers, and surgeons took part in this contest which demonstrated the musical talent of the city and promoted Nashville’s status as "Music City USA." AllState Insurance Company’s The Good Hands Band, Myers Company’s Next of Kin, The Nashville Symphony Association’s Phil & the Harmonics, and Vanderbilt University’s Soul Incision were among the competitors in the Arts & Business Council of Greater Nashville’s first annual Corporate Band Challenge (which, incidentally, was won by MTA’s band, “Transit').

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Ms. Emily Peck

The Role of Arts in Business (from Arts Watch)

Posted by Ms. Emily Peck, Apr 22, 2009


Ms. Emily Peck

Every day it seems like another corporation is planning layoffs.  The employees who keep their jobs are often stressed, overworked and their morale is low.  Businesses are left wondering how they can get out of this recession when they are struggling to do more with fewer resources.  This is where the arts can play an important role by improving employee morale, encouraging creativity and, as a result, improving the bottom line.

U.S. employers rate creativity/innovation as one of the top five skills that will increase in importance in the next five years and they rank creativity/innovation as one of the top ten challenges they will face in the next ten years according to research from the Conference Board. CEOs view participation in the arts as one of the top indicators of employee creativity and innovation.  Whether it’s a performance in the workplace, an opportunity to volunteer at an arts festival, company tickets to a symphony or an employee art exhibition, the arts can stimulate innovation and creativity.

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