ArtVue, Inc.
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January 2003 Issue
Commerce & Industry Association of NJ

Essay
The 'Art'  of Motivation and Productivity

by

Mariana Maldonado

     You might ask, “What does art have to do with motivation and productivity?” In a word, the answer is, “Everything!”  During difficult times, art can be a powerful source of solace – a visual reminder that humanity is creative, resilient and resourceful.

     Few, if any, Americans were unaffected by the events that transpired on 9/11. Today, there is sense of anxiety and uncertainty in both the corporate and private sector as people struggle to cope with the unexpected chaos of terrorism and the collapse of ENRON.  In the wake of these events, companies are faced with the challenge of motivating a diverse workforce in a manner that resonates on a deeper level.  Art can have a significant impact in assisting employees in understanding cultural sensibilities and improve motivation and innovation within the workplace.

     Corporate patrons of the arts – such as Johnson & Johnson, Schering-Plough, Inc. and Berlex Laboratories, Inc. are currently using art in the workplace as proactive diversity initiatives to motivate their employees. These companies recognize that artwork by its very presence is an affirmation of human creativity, a force that demands attention to the inner pulse of life regardless of outside influences.  Wolfgang Kunze, EVP of Finance and CFO of Berlex Laboratories, Inc. believes, “Art is part of the environment at Berlex…we like to see the unexpected…and want our employees to feel they are not only in an office from nine to five. The response is positive…art clearly helps create an up beat environment.”

     In fact, experts (such as Steven Pinker and Antonio Damsio, prominent scholars of the human brain) would argue that the deepest thoughts that account for human behavior are unconscious and primarily visual, Gerald Zaltman (a Harvard Business School professor and creator of ZMET, a marketing method that draws on neuroscience, semiotics and the ideas of Carl Jung) agrees.  In a, recent, New York Times article by Emily Eakin, “Penetrating the Mind by Metaphor,” Zaltman says, “Because we represent the outcome of thoughts verbally, it’s easy to think that thoughts occur in the form of words. That’s just not the case.”

     Art, by nature, challenges intellectual thinking beyond individual limitations of perception. It is a vehicle that transports human imagination to a higher sphere, reflecting conceptual potential and echoing emotions beyond the spoken language.  According to the ZMET method, the human psyche innately responds to visual subliminal messages that fuel behavior. Robert Henri (1865 – 1929), author of The Art Spirit, believed: “When the artist is alive in any person whatever his kind of work may be, he becomes an inventive, searching, daring, self expressive creature….He disturbs, upsets, enlightens and opens ways for a better understanding. Where those who are not artists are trying to close the book, he opens it and shows there are still more pages possible”

      Art curators and consultants are helping corporations understand that on-sight art exhibitions in the workplace are more than image and décor.  Consequently, diversity conscious corporations  can easily turn the workplace into commercial centers that embrace the integrating and motivational power of art.  A successful corporate setting reflects this kind of thinking motivating the workforce within an atmosphere that welcomes artistic innovation. Art can be a powerful tool in returning the workplace to the business of productivity.

About the Author

     Mariana Maldonado is President of ArtVue, Inc. Art Resource Services - a art consulting firm specializing in providing art services to the corporate sector.  With over ten years experience in the art field, Ms. Maldonado is an experienced art curator, corporate art consultant and an accomplished artist.  In 2001, Rutgers University selected Ms. Maldonado as one of forty influential Latin American artists in the state of New Jersey.  Ms. Maldonado has exhibited in galleries as well as under the  sponsorship of the Mason Gross School of the Arts, Rutgers University, Johnson & Johnson  and the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation.

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