Americans for the Arts

The Picture Hanging above Your Couch

Posted by Americans for the Arts, Jul 23, 2007 0 comments


Americans for the Arts

Find me a sofa without a picture hanging above it. It might not be original, fine art bought in a white-walled gallery. Most of us choose to hang a framed print of people kissing in Paris, or a reproduction of an Impressionist master picked up as a museum souvenir, or a poster of beer bottles from around the world held in place by thumb tacks. Whatever the medium, whatever the image, we all put something on that blank stretch of wall that runs between the furniture and the ceiling.  What unites all of the different things we put there is that we choose them; we want to hang them there. “I think this one should go above the couch, we say. 

Ask a person why they chose to hang a particular thing in their living room, and they'll give you an answer that doesn't take a masters degree in art history.  They like the way it makes them feel. It complements the colors in the room. It's interesting to look at. It matches the mood of the room. It's happy.

In other words, without consciousness or recognition, we acknowledge that art has a role in our everyday lives.

Now here's the question: how can we take this collective assumption, that art belongs in our homes, and use it to redefine how we make the case for the arts? I am by no means suggesting that arts professionals should walk into funders' offices, and demand operating support because there's a picture on the wall. What I am suggesting is that we as a culture broadly accept art plays an integral part in our lives. So why do we find it so difficult to translate that into case-making?

A recent Monograph,* based on a research study that was an outcome of the 2006 National Arts Policy Roundtable, asks corporations with a steady history of funding the arts why they think corporate support for the arts is declining. For many of the respondents, it came back to the perception that the arts are not relevant to a company's business, their goals, their employees, or the communities in which they operate.

But we know that's not true. The arts are just as relevant to communities, and therefore businesses in those communities, as paintings are to living room walls. Without them, we have a blank spot.

*The April 2007 Monograph, "The Quality and Nature of Corporate Support for the Arts' A Pilot Study," is one in a series of in-depth issue papers published by Americans for the Arts throughout the year. Monograph is a benefit of Americans for the Arts professional membership at the Standard level and above, and is also available for purchase in our Online Store.

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