Three people hanging a colorful painting on a wall as part of deCordova's Corporate Art Loan Program

ART & EXHIBITIONS

The Power of Art in the Workplace

1973-2023
deCordova’s Corporate Art Loan Program celebrates 50 years

By Gabriella Levy

Beginning in 1973, deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum starting lending artwork from its collection to select corporate donors as small extensions of its exhibitions. Over the decades, the program has grown into what is now the Corporate Art Loan Program (CALP)—a robust annual rotating art loan program that highlights the talent and work of the New England artist community while providing companies in the Greater Boston area with original artworks for their lobbies, conference rooms, offices, and public workspaces.

With more than 70 corporate members, 150+ participating lending artists, and over 1,500 artworks in the program collection, CALP, at 50, is thriving. Revenue from the program directly supports deCordova’s general operations, ongoing exhibition schedule, and extensive slate of programs.

The Corporate Art Loan Program works directly with artists from across the six New England states who represent a diversity of medium, aesthetic, career stage, and cultural background, and provides these artists with opportunities to showcase their work in spaces and to audiences that they otherwise may not be able to access. It has been a career steppingstone for many on deCordova’s artist roster. Celebrating 50 years of this important endeavor, The Trustees looks forward to CALP’s continued success and growth in the coming decades.

Corporate Art Loan Program at deCordova
Corporate Art Loan Program at deCordova

“There’s real value in having original artwork in the workspace. To see people interacting with the art on an everyday basis made this job a joy.” – Maria Lockheardt, CALP Director 1998-2004

“What I loved about the corporate program was that it brought artwork to day-to-day environments, making art more a part of employees’ daily lives.” – Beth Conrad McLaughlin, CALP Director 1996-98