The Importance
of Art in the
Workplace
By Linda Cordair
A
n interview with Linda
Cordair of Quent Cordair
Fine Art with Ari
Armstrong at The
Objective Standard.
With her husband, Quent, Linda
Cordair operates the Quent Cordair
Fine Art gallery, which aspires
to help create “a rebirth of
comprehensibility, beauty,
romanticism and stylization to
contemporary subject matter.”
In addition to selling works of art,
Linda also consults with businesses
on placing artworks in office
buildings and other places accessible
to the public. Here she discusses
that work.
Ari Armstrong: Briefly, what is the
importance to a business of placing
great works of art in or around
their buildings?
Linda Cordair: Thanks for the
opportunity to discuss this topic,
Ari. Art is as important in the
business world as it is in one’s
personal world, and for the same
reasons. In a business space, artwork
helps shape the company’s unique
style, spirit, and character, and
conveys that character to
employees, partners, clients,
and prospective clients in much
the same way that one’s business
attire conveys one’s personal style
and professionalism.
The artwork chosen for a business
space can convey a devotion to
important and distinctive values,
helping distinguish the business from
its competition, or it can convey a
mere reflection of what is commonly
accepted in the mainstream, or it
can project a preference for the
trendy and avant-garde, with little
or no regard for how well or poorly
the imagery may nourish the souls
and minds of those who experience
it. Artwork can help set and maintain
a positive, optimistic, and ambitious
perspective for those working in the
space, or it can lend to a boring or
draining atmosphere, or it can be
markedly detrimental.
Having no or little art in a business
space can project a lack of regard for
the spiritual and psychological needs
of those who work in or visit the
space, or a lack of permanence and
dependability, or a lack of sufficient
financial resources to tend to such
basic environmental necessities.
Visiting a workplace without art
can create the same sense one gets
when visiting a space that is not
adequately and comfortably heated,
cooled, or lighted.
AA: What advice do you offer
businesses regarding the kinds
and sizes of artworks to place
in their spaces?
LC: It depends on a number of
factors, including budget, space
available, and spatial configuration.
That said, having a prominent
piece—say in a lobby, boardroom,
or front entrance—can be
exceptionally impactful and
impressive. From the earliest
recorded civilizations, large works
of art have been created and
employed effectively by those
wishing to forcefully convey an
idea or position. In the business
world today, companies increasingly
are recognizing the power and the
bottom-line value of art in shaping
the perceptions and expectations
of both those in the company and
out. In business, we tell stories
with TV commercials and create
memorable themes with music and
artistic imagery in advertising and
marketing. Increasingly, business
leaders realize that they can and
should take as much care in
selectively shaping the business
space as they take in creating the
detail and “feel” of their marketing
and advertising materials. Even if
there might not yet be the
budgetary wherewithal or space
available for a prominent, larger
work in a space, a tasteful selection
of smaller, well-positioned artworks
can make a remarkable impression.
AA: When you consult with
a business, surely you focus
on works available through your
own gallery, but do you help place
works of art from other sources
as well?
LC: The artists we represent often
can be the best resource for what
our clients are looking for, given
the uniquely pro-business, procapitalism, pro-man theme of our
gallery’s collection. But to meet
clients’ needs, we also draw from
o W"