2. There are few existing explorations of the role of art in the workplace. Some offer
goals for art exhibitions without investigating the actual impact on employees (Mitchell
and King, 1997; Shane, 1996; Tischler, 2006). Most investigate art in hospital settings
(Italia et al., 2008; Rollins, 2011), a burgeoning field of study, as it relates to patient
outcomes (Duncan, 2011; Monti et al., 2012; Nanda et al., 2012; 2011; Trevisani et al.,
2010), that is beginning to consider hospital worker outcomes.
Italia et al. (2008) investigated the relationship between medical personnel burnout
and art therapy. After measuring the level of burnout using a version of the Maslach
Burnout Inventory, one of the two pilot groups of pediatric oncology doctors and nurses
was given weekly art therapy over the course of four months. A comparison of the
burnout levels before and after the intervention showed statistically significant
decreases in burnout. The art therapy techniques involved drama, play and relaxation,
but no visual art (Italia et al., 2008).
Rollins (2011) examined the work of three artists creating non-traditional visual
works and their potential to arouse curiosity and stimulate cognitive or perceptual
change in viewers in hospital settings, including patients, families and staff. Rollins
reported that staff felt the art reduced patient stress, staff were surprised and grateful to
learn about their patients through the interactive art and families and patients
articulated feeling understood and heard. She posited that the art stimulated curiosity,
but the focus of the work was patient and family outcomes, with staff infrequently
discussed (Rollins, 2011).
Research outside of the hospital setting is limited. Betts (2006) conducted a
preliminary exploration of the aesthetic space of boardrooms and its implications for
organizational power dynamics, and Zimmermann (2013) offered quotations from a
guest book in the lobby of the US Department of Education, which exhibits student
artwork. Guest book comments showed that the work inspired viewers, who were not
necessarily employees, to believe in the importance of art education and inspired pride in
student creators (Zimmermann, 2013).
Another study of art in the workplace involved a psychology experiment on college
students that simulated an office environment (Kweon et al., 2008). The researchers used a
laboratory room to simulate a windowless office environment with art posters using four
conditions: abstract art, nature art, both abstract and nature art and no art. The study
examined the relationship between the different art conditions and stress as well as state
anger. Controlling for trait anger, the study found that the art conditions were significantly
related to decreases in both stress and state anger, but only for males (Kweon et al., 2008).
These studies have begun to show that the presence of art in a workplace may have
a measureable impact on employees who interact with it, but there remains a dearth of
research on art in workplace settings. Even fewer studies provide a qualitative analysis
of employee reactions to art in the workplace, although Rollins (2011, p. 91) indicated
âqualitative studies are neededâ. The research presented here attempts to begin filling
this gap by presenting a qualitative, exploratory study of employee and board member
reactions to a non-profit organizationâs art collection exhibited in private and public
areas of the organizationâs headquarters.
This exploratory study examines the following questions in the context of an
organization with a regular art exhibition program: What impact do organization
affiliates (employees and board members) believe the art in their workplace has on their
experience at work? What features of the art do affiliates believe are salient in their
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3. experience of workplace art? The paper concludes by exploring the implications of the
answers to these questions for research and practice.
Research methods
Organization and participants
The study was conducted in 2012-2013 at Independent Schools Victoria (ISV), a
non-profit organization that provides a variety of support resources to non-government
schools in the state of Victoria, Australia. Despite its name, ISV is not a school and does
not manage the administration of any schools; the organization rather provides services
for independent schools across Victoria. It has approximately 75 employees engaged in
a range of activities including administration, program implementation, policy research
and advocacy and professional development. Some employees work with school
administrators or teachers, but ISV employees do not teach or directly interact with
students in the course of their regular duties.
Since 2005, ISV has collected and displayed student artwork, which is exhibited both
at the organizationâs headquarters and, at times, in other locations around Melbourne.
The exhibited artwork rotates to allow new pieces to be displayed regularly. Artworks
include pieces from students in independent schools across the state of Victoria in all
grade levels: kindergarten through year 12, the final year of high school. A variety of
visual art media are represented: painting, drawing, ceramics and sculpture,
printmaking, photography and electronic media. Administrators noticed that
employees naturally gather in conversation around the displays of art in their
workplace, and ISV commissioned the university to create a series of arts-focused
professional development activities to capitalize on this tendency.
To recruit participants, an email was sent to all ISV employees informing them of the
project. The email explained that university researchers were interested in conducting
interviews to gather background information about the affiliates, the art collection and
the relationship between the two. Interviews were conducted with all employees in the
organization who consented to participate. In addition, the director invited four board
members who she felt would have time for an interview on site.
Sixteen employees and three board members opted to participate in the research.
Three of the 19 participants were male; the other 16 were female. Ages ranged from 40
to 69 years, with affiliates almost equally split between 40-49 (42 per cent) and 50-59 (53
per cent) years of age. Only one affiliate was60 years of age. Participants had between
2 and 16 years of service with ISV (mean 6 years).
Although the interviews were conducted to gather information to help shape future
professional development activities, the data were so unexpectedly rich that the
researchers decided to explore the information affiliates had volunteered about the
impact of the art in their workplace.
Data collection
Interested affiliates engaged in semi-structured interviews about their relationship to
the student art collection and exhibition program. Because the impetus of the project
was the observation of conversations, participants were specifically asked, âHave you
discussed the collection or works in it with your colleagues? (If yes) What have you
talked about?â Other questions included âWhat, if anything, do you feel the collection
has contributed to the organization?â and âHow would you describe the student art
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4. collection to someone who wasnât familiar with schools or ISV?â In addition to such
general questions, participants were also asked four separate versions of one question,
âDo you feel your ideas about (art/students/your colleagues/ISV) have changed because
of interactions youâve had with the collection? (If yes) How so?â, to determine whether
affiliates felt that interactions with the collection changed their perception of art, school
students, colleagues or the organization. Other interview questions related to potential
professional development opportunities related to the collection, which was the original
impetus for the interviews but is not the focus of this study.
With one exception, participants were interviewed individually, and their responses
were audio-recorded and collected in field notes. Audio-recorded responses were
transcribed verbatim. Two employees were unable to schedule separate interviews and
thus suggested a joint interview.
Data analysis
Interview transcripts and field notes were analyzed using thematic analysis. Using this
method, the investigators identified recurring themes that appeared in the text. In
addition, conversation was included as an a priori thematic code based on previous
observations. The data were organized in the qualitative software program TAMS
Analyzer (Weinstein, 2012) and manually coded using thematic analysis. TAMS
Analyzer was chosen because the research team had experience with varied qualitative
software programs, and one team member had not used a software program to organize
qualitative data previously. The team deemed TAMS Analyzer to be the most intuitive
and user-friendly program of those available with which team members could all
efficiently become familiar, and all programs (ATLAS.ti, NVivo and TAMS Analyzer)
had similar functional capabilities. In addition, TAMS Analyzer was the only program
of the three that, at the time, could run natively on the universityâs Macintosh computers.
Two researchers independently reviewed the notes and transcripts and developed a
list of thematic codes. We then compared our list of themes and developed a coding
guide with definitions and examples for each identified theme. Each researcher then
used the coding guide to independently analyze the complete set of data. Based on a
discussion of the second round of analysis, the coding guide was further refined, and the
data were independently analyzed for a third and final time. The final inter-rater
reliability was 0.96 (Cohenâs kappa), and discrepancies were discussed and resolved.
Results
The results of this study indicate that employees and board members feel there are five
main ways in which interactions with the student art in their workplace impacts them:
the art promotes social interactions, generally enhances the workplace environment,
elicits emotional responses, facilitates personal connection-making and fosters learning.
They believe that the salient features of the collection for them are its connection to the
organizationâs mission and its diversity, quality, creativity and changing nature. The
following sections discuss each of these areas in detail.
Impacts on employees and board members
Conversation and social interaction. The main research question centered on the impact
of the art in the work environment, as described by the participants. The topic most
discussed by participants (both in terms of number of participants and frequency of
discussion) was social interaction stimulated by the presence of the art in the workplace.
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5. This frequency is not surprising considering that it was the only theme that was
included in the interview questions. Only one employee felt that he/she did not really
discuss the art with anyone else; all other employees and board members talked about
instances in which they spoke with others about the art, in a variety of circumstances.
Most of the social interactions around the artwork involved discussions between
colleagues. One employee felt âthe collection help[s] us make contact, provides a space
for conversation that did not exist beforeâ, and another felt it was an opportunity to learn
about coworkers, saying âpeople offer insights about the works of art and also
themselvesâ. Many people mentioned talking about the art together during meetings
when they were in a space that had pieces on exhibit. There seemed to be a feeling that
the art was a conversation starter that offered everyone something to contribute:
âEveryone can talk about the art; informal responses from colleagues can bring
everyone togetherâ. At the same time, these discussions were usually described as being
spontaneous, conversations that happened on the spur of the moment.
In addition to talking with colleagues about the art, some participants indicated they also
talked to visitors and guests to the organization about the pieces. One participant noted that:
[âŠ] the artwork in the meeting rooms gives a focus for conversation when you donât know
someone really well, and people from schools use it as well when they donât know you as
[âŠ] a talking point.
Overall, affiliates seemed to feel that the art in their environment stimulated
spontaneous conversation between colleagues as well as guests, providing a shared
topic of conversation that was seen as being able to facilitate discussion between new
acquaintances and to provide new insights into coworkers.
Enhancement of the workplace environment. The impact of the art on participantsâ
feelings about their general work environment was the second most common impact found,
with only two participants not discussing this theme. Participants had surprisingly strong
views about the contribution of the artwork to their conception of the workplace
environment, making comments such as âI donât think the place would be half the place
without itâ, âitâs the one aspect of the organization I really loveâ and âI think itâs really one of
the most fantastic features in our office.Tobe honest I think it makes the officeâ. Participants
indicated that the presence of the art in the environment affected their feelings about the
organization and working there. One employee noted âit gives me a good feeling about the
organizationâ, and another said it makes âthis a really nice work placeâ.
Beyond these general comments, employees felt that it aesthetically enhanced the
environment. As one participant commented, âitâs colorful. Itâs better than having drab
boring wallsâ. Others indicated it provided a âsense of beautyâ at the office and âbrings
color and creativity into our work spaceâ. In general, we were surprised at the strong
positive comments participants spontaneously made about the student art exhibition
program at their workplace. Many felt it was a very important aspect of the
organization, and the aesthetic contribution was often cited as a reason for the artâs
importance in the environment.
Emotional response. Another topic that came up frequently in responses was the
emotions that the artworks elicited in ISVâs affiliates. Participants described feeling a
range of positive emotions while viewing or contemplating the art: joy, wonder and
inspiration. One employee mentioned being âinspired and amazed by the student
collectionâ, another felt âviewing the collection can have a nourishing effect for the spirit
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6. or soulâ and a third said âit holds a magical qualityâ. Some reported positive feelings in
general, and others indicated their feelings were directed toward the organization. Many
noted that their feelings of amazement were a result of the quality of the work done by
students, which often surprised viewers.
Personal connection-making. In addition to eliciting emotional responses,
participants reported that the student art on the walls also facilitated personal
connection-making. Affiliates indicated that viewing the art reminded them of personal
experiences and loved ones, and they showed an awareness of the individual
perspectives their colleagues brought to conversations about the works. As one
employee noted, âpeople can interpret based on their own experience and
understandingâ. Some respondents discussed how viewing the art at work stimulated
memories of past trips to museums, while others indicated that the art reminded them of
students, schools or family members. One employee felt that the art provided a
âreminder of relationships with students from the past when [she] held position as a
boarding house motherâ, and another felt the art ârelated back to experiences of having
a child doing studio artâ.
In addition to reminding affiliates of past experiences, a few individuals reported
interesting instances of new or renewed connections.Aboard member noted that after a
period of separation, âat a recent opening, [was] reconnected with a family friend who
had a daughter exhibitingâ. An employee mentioned that the art inspired her to make a
connection to studio art practice, and she began doing digital drawing.
Learning opportunities. The final way affiliates identified the art in their workplace
as impacting them was through opportunities for learning. Interview questions
prompted affiliates to discuss whether they felt the exhibited student art changed their
perception of art, students, colleagues or the organization. Discussions about colleagues
have been included in the social interaction section above, and few people reported a
change in their feeling about ISV, although positive feelings toward the organization
were noted and can be found in the workplace environment section above. Affiliates did,
however, discuss many instances of learning about art and about students, as well as
other cognitive impacts.
To discover whether affiliates felt that interacting with the artwork impacted their
thoughts about art, we specifically asked if viewing the collection had changed their
perception of art. All respondents except one indicated that the art collection had
changed their ideas in some way. Many indicated that they had a âdeeper appreciationâ
or âdeeper understandingâ of the process and materials used in art-making in general as
well as the current art practices in schools. Respondents said they âbecame aware of
different art formsâ and discussed technical aspects of the work with one another.
Respondents also discussed learning about the role of the artists, realizing that âart is
very individualâ and âit just reminds you that we all come from a different perspectiveâ.
Nearly all participants discussed learning about art technique or practice in some way,
and a wide variety of aspects were cited across the participant pool.
Participants were also asked during the interview if they felt that interactions with
the art in their workplace had affected their views about students. All but two
respondents said it had. Many participants indicated that the work illustrated the
capabilities of students of different ages, and most noted that they were amazed at the
quality of work school students could create. In addition to learning about the capabilities of
the students, employees noted learning about âthe diverse range of student interestsâ,
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7. âcultural contexts of studentsâ and âthe quality of the tuition that theyâre gettingâ.
Although the focus of responses was largely on the talent and quality of work students
could produce, multiple employees commented that the exhibitions also illustrated the
importance of the arts in allowing for personal expression and an alternate form of
evaluating student work.
In addition to learning about art and students, most respondents (74 per cent)
discussed other cognitive impacts of the art on their walls without prompting. The most
common way in which affiliates spoke about the exhibition cognitively was to say that
it made them think. One employee noted that viewing the art can start an âinner
dialogueâ and another noted it stimulated âthought processâ. Others said it pushed them
âout of [their] comfort zone on an intellectual levelâ and was âoften thought provokingâ.
In these examples, ISV affiliates are articulating metacognition about their intellectual
response to the organizationâs art exhibition.
Beyond such general references to being pushed to think when viewing the art,
respondents also indicated other cognitive activities including analyzing, evaluating
and questioning. Some participants described how they analyzed meaning in the art,
such as the employee who noted about one work, âthe butterfly is a metaphor for life and
student development, the struggle to break out of the cocoon and soarâ. Other
participants described making quality judgments, such as declaring âwhen you look at
the similar artworks [âŠ] you can see [âŠ] thatâs a good art teacher at that schoolâ. Many
affiliates used the term âwonderingâ when describing their interactions with the art,
illustrating an interrogatory stance towards the works. Although we only asked
participants about changed ideas related to art, students, colleagues or the organization,
their discussion of general cognitive impacts shows a potentially broad effect of the
work on employees and board members on an intellectual level.
Salient features of the collection
To begin exploring why the ISV organizational art collection and exhibition program
may have the impacts identified above, we also examined the salient features of the
collection for participants. Affiliates identified the artâs connection to the organizationâs
mission and its diversity, quality, creativity and changing nature as important aspects
of the exhibition for them.
Mission connection. All respondents except one identified the art exhibitionâs
connection to the mission of ISV in promoting educational outcomes as an important
feature in their view. For some, the art served as an illustration of the organizationâs
purpose. One employee noted, âit shows a commitment by the organization that student
achievement is valued and celebratedâ, and another felt âit models what we are talking
about to schools a lotâ.
In addition to reflecting the values of the organization, affiliates mentioned that the
art connected them to their intended audience: schools and students. Employees
articulated that âit provides a visible and tangible link to our schools and allows them to
be present in our workplaceâ and âit reminds us of what we are here for: itâs supposed to
be about the kidsâ.
These identified connections to the organizationâs mission and audience in turn
seemed to make employees view the organization in a more positive light by making
âthe work environment [âŠ] stimulating and reflecting learningâ. As one respondent
gushed, âit adds hugely to the atmosphere of the organization and the feeling of
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8. connectedness with schools very much, so for me itâs a very tangible thing; itâs all really
really greatâ. Clearly, the fact that the art exhibition is connected to the organizationâs
mission is an important factor influencing the way affiliates view both the exhibitions
and the organization itself.
Diversity. Interestingly, just as many affiliates talked about the diversity of the art
collection as discussed its connection to the organizationâs mission. Only one person
did not mention variety as being one of the hallmarks of the collection. Everyone else
discussed various ways in which the collection was diverse; they cited variety in
student skill levels and ages, variety in schools showcased, variety in types of
artwork, variety in techniques and variety of subjects. Most people mentioned this
diversity multiple times; in fact, diversity and variety may have been the two most
popular words used repeatedly to describe the collection. Although the emphasis on
student and school diversity may, at least in part, relate to the idea of the artâs
connection to the organizationâs educational mission, the range and frequency with
which this theme was discussed seem to demonstrate importance beyond the
relationship with ISVâs mission.
Quality. Another important feature of the collection for most (84 per cent) of the ISV
affiliates interviewed was the quality of the work. In some ways, this idea connected to
affiliatesâ learning about students, as much of the discussion of quality was centered on
surprise at the quality of the art students produced. One employee went so far as to say,
after visiting an art museum, âI didnât think any of them [the works on view at the
museum] are any better than what we have on displayâ. Although some employees who
used to work with students were âalready aware of the [âŠ] talents of studentsâ, many
affiliates said they were âamazedâ or âblown awayâ at the level of skill in the student art
around them. One board member felt so strongly about the work that he said, âpeople
need to see this collection; it is important for parents to realize the talents of their childâ.
The quality of the work, likely in combination with the fact that it generally surpassed
viewer expectations, is another powerful feature affiliates identified as important in
their experience of the art in their workplace.
Creativity. Creativity was another feature repeatedly discussed by most (68 per cent)
employees and board members. Much of the discussion of creativity was general, citing
the âcreativity and uniqueness of the worksâ, although a few employees specifically
mentioned finding studentsâ use of materials or techniques in the works creative. For
those who mentioned creativity, the reaction to this element was positive; affiliates said
it was âgreat to see the creative experiences [âŠ] being included in our work spaceâ and
that the âcreativity and cross age collection [was] stimulatingâ.
Change. Just over half (63 per cent) of affiliates indicated that the changing nature of
the collection was a salient feature for them. Many of these noted that they talked with
one another about changes in the art on exhibit; one mentioned that coworkers ânote the
changes as works come and go back to their student creatorsâ, and another said that
ânew works are usually the main catalystâ for discussion. There seemed to be an
excitement and sense of anticipation around the fact that the works rotate; one employee
shared, âI like that they change. You never know whatâs going to be thereâ. A colleague
indicated that this turnover meant âthere is always something fresh and new to look atâ.
Not only do the ISV affiliates seem to have an awareness of the fact that the art pieces
change over time, but they seem to look forward to it and use it as a source of
conversation.
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9. Discussion and conclusion
The main goal of this study was to explore the relationships between an organizationâs
art collection and its employees and board members, through their own words. In
answer to the research question, What impact do organization affiliates believe the art in
their workplace has on their experience at work?, we found that respondents stated the
art collection fostered discussions and socialization between colleagues as well as
guests, stirred emotional responses, allowed for personal connection-making, generally
enhanced their work environment, fostered learning opportunities and promoted
cognitive engagement. The results also showed that the artâs diversity, quality,
creativity, changing nature and connection to the organizationâs mission were the
features of the exhibited art that affiliates believed were salient in their experience of it.
In general, our findings are consistent with the few existing studies that examine the
role of art in the workplace (Italia et al., 2008; Kweon et al., 2008; Rollins, 2011), which
found that the presence of art can have a variety of positive impacts on employees who
view the art. Further studies are needed to examine the full range of types of
organizations with art collections and the many possible impacts art may have on
individuals in the workplace.
Implications
Although the study is exploratory, our findings suggest a number of possible
implications for practice as well as some avenues for future research. The most basic
implication of our results is that exhibiting art in a workplace environment can have
positive benefits for affiliates who view the art. In particular, corporate art exhibitions
have been created to stimulate creativity (Tischler, 2006), provide art education, build
relationships among employees (Shane, 1996) or clients (Mitchell and King, 1997) and
create a pleasant work environment (Mitchell and King, 1997). The present results show
that these goals may be attainable. The study also supports the anecdotal findings of
Zimmermann (2013) that exhibited student work can reaffirm the importance of arts
education for viewers. Exhibiting art may be a relatively simple way to generally
enhance the work environment for individuals present in the space and to directly foster
mission-related learning as well as interpersonal learning.
Beyond simply illustrating the benefits of displaying art, the results point to specific
outcomes that are valued by employees and board members. The ability to foster
conversationsamongcolleagues as well as between employees and clients or guests could be
purposefully guided by structuring opportunities for employees to discuss art together, for
example by placing open-ended question prompts on labels. The study also found that
viewers learned about art and about the artists, so offering information about the techniques
and materials used tomakethe art or providing information about the artist/smaybe helpful
in promoting this kind of learning. Affiliates were also found to naturally make personal
connections with the art, and this could be supported through structured ways for
employees to personally connect with the art, for example by offering a response book for
written comments to provide different perspectives on a piece.
In addition to supporting the benefits of viewing art at work, the results suggest that
there may be certain features of an art collection that promote positive interactions. The
combination of the particular kind of artwork exhibited, in this case student artwork,
and affiliatesâ focus on the artâs connection to ISVâs educational mission suggests that it
may be beneficial to align the nature of the art collection with the mission of the
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10. organization. For example, a scientific laboratory might exhibit botanical or anatomical
art, and a real-estate firm might exhibit architectural drawings or photographs. Further,
collecting a diverse range of art and regularly rotating the collection on display would be
recommended based on our findings that diversity and the changing nature of the work
were important to participants.
The findings also suggest that further research is warranted into the impact of art in
the workplace. The results of this exploration illustrated positive impacts of viewing
student art for employees and board members of an educational organization. Further
research is necessary to examine the impact of other types of artwork in similar
organizations and student artwork in non-educational organizations to explore the
influence of the type of artwork and type of workplace setting. Research into the possible
influence of demographic characteristics of the viewers, such as age, art experience and
length of service with the organization, would also be very useful so that art in the
workplace can be more specifically targeted to particular groups of workers. In addition,
more research is necessary to determine exactly how the salient features identified may
contribute to the impacts found. Possible relationships between artwork features and
impact could be explored using an experimental approach, as the current study only
includes participant perceptions of salient features.
Future research could also explore the concept of corporate art exhibitions as
tangible illustrations of organizational identity, suggested by the finding that ISV
affiliates made explicit links between the type of artwork shown and the organizationâs
mission. Scheinâs (2004) organizational culture model would be a useful tool to guide
such future exploration, as it structures the relationships between tangible artifacts (in
this case, artwork), organizational values and beliefs and underlying assumptions.
Research limitations
Although the results suggest generative avenues for future research and practice, the
study has several limitations. First, the employee participants were self-selected, and it
is logical to think that employees with strong positive or negative views of the art
collection would be more likely to volunteer to participate. Although we did not find any
affiliates who were negative about the collection, we did find unexpectedly strong
positive responses, which may be partly related to the self-selection process. In future
studies, a random sampling of the employees would be desirable, if possible.
The research design provided some a priori categories respondents were guided to
discuss. Although this is not necessarily problematic in itself, it presents us with two types
of findings: results based on themes in the interview questions and results based on themes
that were discussed without prompting. These are discussed together above but do reflect
different data collection procedures. Such findings, however, are not necessarily to be
avoided in future work; it was interesting and important to find both unexpected themes and
to pursue topics related to previously observed phenomena in the organization.
Relatedly, the questions used in the interviews were designed to gather general
information regarding the employees and their relationship to the collection to inform
potential professional development activities. This study resulted from the
unexpectedly rich responses, which naturally answered questions regarding the impact
and salient features of the collection. Although this offered a unique opportunity to
explore participantsâ mostly unprompted views on these research questions, more
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11. tailored interview questions specifically designed to address these issues would also be
useful in future research.
The qualitative nature of the data also prevented us from closely examining the
possible associations between participant factors (such as affiliate age, length of service
with ISV and whether participants were male or female) and the impacts and salient
features they identified. Although no associations were observed in this study, there
may be relevant differences in employee reactions to art in the workplace that vary
based on measurable characteristics. Quantitative data would be needed to investigate
those relationships to determine if there are statistically significant associations.
Finally, this study examined one type of artwork within one particular organization,
which may not be representative of many workplace art collections. Studies examining
the role of art across multiple organizations and that investigate the role of the type of
work setting and the type of art collection are needed to provide a more complete picture
of this aspect of the workplace environment.
Conclusion
The findings of this exploratory study show the possible benefits of exhibiting art in the
workplace. Employees and board members of an Australian non-profit organization
identified numerous impacts of viewing art at work: stimulating conversation, eliciting
emotional responses, offering opportunities to make personal connections, affording
learning opportunities and generally enhancing their perception of the workplace
environment. Further, the results show what features of the art affiliates felt were most
important: its changing nature, connection to the organizationâs mission, creativity,
diversity and quality. Adding artworks with the discussed features or enhancing
existing collections in the workplace may be a relatively easy way of encouraging a
variety of benefits for employees. Further research is needed, however, to explore the
generalizability and mechanisms behind interactions with this particular aspect of the
work environment, including the possible influences of viewer demographics,
workplace type and artwork type.
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About the author
Christina Smiraglia is an Instructor in Education and doctoral candidate at the Harvard Graduate
School of Education and a Research Assistant at Project Zero. She completed her Master of
Education in Learning and Teaching at Harvard University and her Master of Arts in Museum
Studies at The George Washington University. Her research focuses on the qualities and effects of
user experiences with art and physical objects in informal learning settings and is informed by her
experience as a museum educator and art teacher.
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