As a business, what will I get out of working with an artist?

All the working relationships within this scheme are unique and have varied benefits, but there are some obvious advantages!

  • Public relations opportunities: working with an artist can be a very exciting way to promote your business and raise awareness of what you do among your clients and the business community at large. Art Works for Business can help you to find an artist who will be suitable and relevant for this role.
  • Creative development: there is growing interest and acknowledged success in the fostering of creative talent within business. We are in a tough business climate at present and working creatively with an artist could help you to develop areas and ideas within your business that would otherwise remain unexplored and unexploited.
  • Promotion and marketing: this is an area of your business that needs to be exciting and inventive. An artist will provide a fresh and unfamiliar approach as a new observer while having a naturally creative take on your needs for advertising the business successfully.
  • Staff development: the importance of relationships between workmates is often overlooked when businesses explore ways of working more efficiently. Team building events tend to be thought of as sports based, but an arts workshop with creative approach can be a stronger and more cost-effective tool in supporting and building working relationships as well as training your staff to think more inventively and creatively about their contribution to your business.
  • Supporting your chosen charity: this idea proved popular last year among the partnerships where artists were given exhibition space within a business. Holding an exhibition on your premises will energise your workforce and encourage debate while providing you with an opportunity to share in any sales through commission. Some businesses chose to donate their takings to their chosen charity. An exhibition also acts as an excellent focus for a promotion or to encourage additional exposure to new customers. This year we will be working to help retailers form ‘art trails’ within their local area, working together for the benefit of the local business community and to maximise publicity.
  • Social awareness: in the current climate all successful businesses need to be aware of their social and environmental responsibilities. Sometimes it is hard to assess just what is needed in answer to these challenges. Many of our artists are extremely knowledgeable in this area and could work with you to find solutions which are uniquely tailored to your business while providing you with an opportunity to promote your social responsibility agenda.

What will it cost me to employ an artist?

The answer to that is probably less than you think, though every partnership will vary according to the needs and ambitions of the business.

Time and effort are the major cost as you will need to work with the artist to get the most out of your relationship. Our feedback from last year showed, unsurprisingly, that those businesses who invested the most energy had the best results.

If you wish to provide exhibition space, this may make you some money rather than involving you in expense. However, you will incur some costs in making your event a successful public relations opportunity just as you would with any promotional venture for your business. These could include expenses such as hosting a private view or publicising your event.

There will be charges for workshops or training days and artists will be happy to advise you of these. You may consider a skills swop if you feel that you can offer the artist some form of business training or assistance: costs may not necessarily be in the form of money!


How does Art Works for Business help me to work with an artist?

This site can help you to find an artist and give advice on how to establish a relationship with them.

This site offers a step by step guide to lead you through the process of working with an artist or a business and will help to make the experience a straightforward and satisfactory one for everyone involved.

This site provides downloadable PDFs covering copyright, health and safety, insurance and other important practical concerns as well as giving down to earth advice on contracts and marketing. Our downloads aim to help both artists and business to understand their responsibilities under current guidelines for good practice.


Will my business benefit long term?

We intend that Art Works for Business will continue to grow and become a self supporting scheme throughout the county, benefitting both its business partners and artists.

As the scheme grows, it will generate more awareness among the arts and business community in Buckinghamshire and so raise the profile of those involved as well as widening the scope of services available.

We need your support for this. We ask all businesses and artists involved to provide us with feedback and an evaluation of their partnerships. We listen carefully and we act on the invaluable information this process supplies, using it to grow the scheme in ways that benefit all those involved.