It is a positive, upbeat time now in the corporate art world -- but with major changes in attitude and perception.

Expansion and growth -- it doesn't matter what part of the country you survey -- new corporate art collections are being formed, existing collections are being added to, and new buildings are under construction. It is a positive, upbeat time now in the corporate art world -- but with major changes in attitude and perception. The cautious, tentative buying of the 60s and 70s is gone, and also missing are the extravagant buying patterns of the 80s. Many collections during those boom times were purchased rapidly and in volume for decorating new buildings. And often, just as swiftly, were dispersed or sold when the companies confronted the economic downturn.

Today, the corporate art world is established, secure, and much wiser. It still remains a secretive and somewhat private activity. It is impossible to estimate exactly how much is really being spent by companies on corporate art, because art acquisitions are often included in Marketing, public relations, building or furnishings budgets. Companies are still sensitive to potential negative publicity as a result of using stockholders money for what may be perceived as "frivolous" purposes. And art advisors are still hesitant to reveal the names of their clients for fear that they will be deluged with proposals from artists and galleries.

The new corporate buyers are different. In the words of one art advisor, "the average corporate buyer has become much more savvy about art." Companies are more selective in what they are buying. Art advisors have become more professional and experienced in working with their clients. Standards and ethics of professionalism are being established. Corporate art collecting has become an established element in the art world. It always was there -- but it was usually viewed as only a mere phenomenon. Now corporate collecting is here to stay. .

One of the most important trends that has emerged in recent years, is that the art collection is now viewed as a part of the company's overall image. In the past, art was often purchased without much thought as to how it related to the company's business, except to create a pleasant working environment. Now in the leaner corporate structures of the late 90s, art, like everything in the corporate environment, has to "pay its own way" -- it has to be perceived as useful and serving a function for the company.

It is no longer the obvious exploitation of art that was practiced in the early days of corporate art programs, when art was used as a direct marketing tool to sell a product. It is a much more subtle form of marketing and advertising. The art, rather than being used to promote and sell, is used instead to reflect the corporate culture and what is unique about that particular company. The companies are rethinking how they want to be perceived. They want the art collection to be a symbol of their company's unique focus. It is a totally new way of thinking about their art collections. Unfortunately, most artists and dealers have not recognized this shift in focus, and therefore are still hoping for a return to the days when art was purchased indiscriminately and in volume.

Microsoft Corporation reflects the new approach to corporate art collecting. The collection, which now numbers over 4,000  objects, is selected by a committee of nine employees that are rotated regularly. According to Michael Klein, the former curator of the collection, "The decision was made to align the collecting activity with the profile of the company, which is that Microsoft is a young company, and that the median age of the employees is youthful. So the focus of the collection is on collecting contemporary art by living artists."

This encourages a dialogue about the goals of the company. Artworks are considered for inclusion depending on what is going on in the art scene and with a view to including it in the company's campus environment.

Many art advisors working with corporate clients agree that the focus has changed. Sandra Lang, formerly the head of the corporate art program at the Museum of Modern Art, and who has just returned to the world of the corporate art as an independent art advisor, notes that the collecting activity now is different than it was in the 80s. "Today, it seems often to be linked to marketing reasons or human resources."

Emily Nixon, who has developed historical, architectural and contemporary collections in the Chicago area such as Blue Cross Blue Shield, Arthur Anderson, and Leo Burnett, feels that many companies are re-thinking their collections to reflect the company's identities "Earlier collections were based more on the museum model, but corporations have moved away from the concept of unrelated collections and now would rather reach targeted groups of people, and want their art to be something that speaks about their corporate culture."

Suzy Locke, a corporate art advisor in San Francisco, whose clients include Grubb and Ellis, and Kaiser Permanente, agrees that the focus has subtly changed. She is working with a pharmaceutical company, Yamanouchi Shaklee Pharma, which is building a collection that directly relates to their corporate activity and their desire to build links between California and Japan. They are doing regular commissions, and have recently acquired works by Fred Tomacelli, Laddie John Dill, and Hitoshi Sasaki.

Naomi Baigell, Vice President and Director of Corporate Collections at Sotheby's has viewed the corporate art world from both perspectives. Before she came to Sotheby's, she was the Art Program Administrator for the Prudential Insurance Company collection. Most companies do not acquire their artworks through auctions, and instead rely on art advisors, or in-house art curators that work directly with artists and their gallery representatives. That has not changed. But in order to help their corporate clients, some auction houses are forming corporate departments and corporate advisory services. Baigell notes that much of Sotheby's activity now with corporations is to advise them and help in the management of their collection. Corporate identity has become an important issue. Sotheby's introduced the corporate advisory service about six years ago, and they now work with about 20 corporate clients.

One of the surprises that has become apparent during the late 90s, and early 2000s,  is the unexpected resilience and stability of the corporate art world. After the economic and corporate disarray of the late 80s and early 90s, and after the dispersal of many large collections, many had felt that corporate collecting would never recover and would no longer be a force in the art market.

But those fears have proved groundless. Instead, corporate art collecting is now an established segment of the art world, with its own corps of professionals and specialists, its own philosophies and standards of ethics, and its own professional organizations.

Many of the well known collections have had established art programs for 30 years or more. These fine collections, such as those of the Citibank, JP Morgan/Chase Bank, General Mills, Forbes, among others, were carefully and methodically assembled. These collections are stable and mature, and their holdings have undergone a subtle transformation and re-appraisal over time, as well as unabated growth as they adapted to their changing corporate climates.

The General Mills collection was started in 1958 and includes about 1,200 examples of contemporary art with a balance between regional and national, traditional and avant-garde works in all media -- the majority of the works by living artists.

The great challenge now facing Donald McNeil, the company's curator for over 20 years, is the complete renovation of all of the company's interior spaces and how this affects the collection. The new spaces feature open plan arrangements, and a reduction in the number of traditional office spaces. This is having a formidable impact on the art collection because of the overall decrease of usable wall space. Since about 45% of the art collection had traditionally been located in private offices, the opening up of spaces has meant that McNeil has had to re-think the entire use and display of art, and how the presence of art can be integrated into these new environments.

According to McNeil, "the experience has been gratifying, because in all of the new spaces, the employees have requested that the art element be re-integrated into the areas. They want the art to continue to have a place in their work environments."

Many other companies have recognized the importance of art in the workplace. According to Harry Quadracci, President and Founder of Quad Graphics, a printing company near Milwaukee, "Art has transformed our workplaces into works of art. Employees find Quad/Graphics someplace special to work. And, by working at someplace special, they become special, something more than they ever hoped to be. Art, just as ink, is in our veins. It is our blood."

The Quad Graphics collection, which includes contemporary prints in all media has grown from about 2300 to over 2800 examples in two years. Some of the recent acquisitions include works from Center Street Studio in Boston by Bill Thompson, James Stroud, and Chuck Holtzman; "Aggregate Images," a series of 20 prints created by New York sculptor Jim Nickel; and prints from Crown Point Press by William Wiley, Wayne Thiebaud, and Yutaka Yoshinaga.

The company has been expanding rapidly and now has an international presence with 17 plants in North and South America, and offices in Europe and Asia. Quad Graphics is currently thinking about adding printmaking facilities to one of its corporate sites for use by guest artists, and has recently donated 10 million dollars to the expansion of the Milwaukee Art Museum, designed by Santiago Calatrava.

Another well established collection is that of SAFECO, a Seattle-based company which provides insurance and financial services. This collection was begun in 1973, and according to Julie Anderson, who has been the art curator of the collection for over 10 years, "The company has never varied in its commitment to corporate collecting. The budget for annual acquisitions is always $100,000, and the company has always looked at the long term."

This stability in the art collecting program has created a balanced environment. And with an assured budget, they have been able to steadily acquire at least 10 important works each year. The focus of the collection is work by Northwest artists which includes painting, sculpture, photography, works on paper, mixed media as well as clay, glass and fiber mediums. Some of the major artists represented include Mark Tobey, Jacob Lawrence, Morris Graves, and Dale Chihuly.

Often the acquisition of a new company is the impetus for a change of direction or a re-evaluation of interest in corporate art collecting. SAFECO recently acquired American States Insurance Company in Indianapolis and that acquisition made it one of the 15 top insurance companies in the US. That has had a great impact on the overall direction of collecting activity.

"American States Insurance had its own tradition, and we will work with that and try to integrate their philosophy into our overall program. What will be interesting is that for the first time, our emphasis will not be exclusively on Northwest coast artists, but we will also be acquiring 19th and 20th century American works from the "heartland," and that will give more focus to our own collection."

Pfizer, Inc. is a pharmaceutical company that is undergoing explosive growth, with a resulting positive impact on its art collection. Ingrid Fox, who was curator of the collection for over 5 years and just retired, worked for Pfizer for about 15 years.   The collection now includes about 2000 works -- up significantly from about 1600 two years ago -- and focuses on contemporary art, primarily two-dimensional works with examples of folk art.

The art program was been brought under the direction of the Corporate Affairs Department, which provided increased visibility and access to senior management. "It shows that the company now realizes the public relations value and community outreach aspect of the art program. We are also adding spaces which are being used as exhibition areas." Interest and acquisition has been gaining momentum. Because the company continues to expand, art is being acquired for new spaces, including offices in England -- in London and Sandwich.

"The company has become more aware of what art can do, and there is much more interest in the idea of art in the offices. We just purchased a neon sculpture by Doug Fergusson, "Heart of the Atomic Age," which is located in the Cardio-Vascular Group of Pharmaceutical Division."

Companies are also beginning to realize potential licensing and marketing possibilities in their art collections. Forbes has been very successful in this activity, and sees it as a way to broaden the appeal and reach of the collection. The Forbes Magazine collection includes Faberge objets d'art including 12 Imperial Easter eggs (which recently were purchased by a Russian businessman and were returned to Rissia); British and French 19th century paintings; lead soldiers; toy boats; American paintings.

According to the Director of the collection, Margaret Kelly Trombly, "Museums have been merchandising art successfully for many years. We have received so many requests for loans of items for exhibitions around the world, that this is a way of working with the museums to merchandise images and reproductions. We have done books and calendars for a long time, but now we are planning to do a line of men's ties based on some of our toy boats and soldiers, a faberge scarf, and we are also doing a series of fine print reproductions of paintings from the collection."

Corporations are buying art again, but what types of companies are buying art, and what media are they interested in now? West Coast art advisors have noted that there are many national and international projects in the real estate and hotel field. According to Corine Shane, founder of Investinart, based in New York, the majority of her clients that are beginning collections are small and medium sized companies and firms. Many of these clients include law firms, insurance companies, and banking associations. She has been working for four years with the Morgan Lewis & Bockius collection, and another client is the New York State Bankers Association. For this organization of bankers from all over the state, she has assembled a combination of New York City scenes as well as landscapes of rural areas.

Many corporate art collections are incorporating photography. Law firms in particular seem to be drawn to photography as a medium, possibly because it is still possible to form an impressive collection at a lower cost than is possible with paintings and other two-dimensional media. Elizabeth Levine, an art advisor working in New York, has noticed the trend in photography.

"I am finding more and more are buying photographs - both because the clients like photographs, and because photographs can still be acquired for reasonable prices. As for very high priced photographs (over $5000) my clients respect the works, but they will not pay the price. They will opt for younger photographers, instead."

Jean Effron, who has been an advisor for over 20 years, also works with many law firms in the Washington, DC area. Some of her clients include Williams & Connely; King Spalding; Miller and Chevalier; and Sullivan and Cromwell. She is currently working with a law firm that is assembling a collection of regionalist and modernist paintings of the 30s and 40s.

One of the more interesting phenomena is the growth of companies now collecting crafts and folk art. When Effron assembled the US News and World Report collection of American crafts during the early 1980s, it was the first time that a corporation had focused exclusively on the crafts for a company art collection. According to Effron, "today it is a totally accepted medium and is very easy to sell. Craft art is everywhere, and is easier often than sculpture because crafts are less expensive and the imagery is usually more accessible."