For two weeks in June 2019 The Hub at Farnborough Business was transformed into a Pop-Up Gallery Exhibition hosted by Zimmer Stewart Gallery.
The plain white corridor of The Hub was brought to life by a variety of paintings by six established and emerging artists, Matt Bodimeade, Nick Bodimeade, Tom Farthing, Katharine le Hardy & Emma Rimer and Phil Tyler; as well as selected works from Fine Art Students at The Sixth Form College Farnborough.
Research shows that the introduction of artwork in the workplace reduces stress, increases creativity and encourages thought-provoking conversations, and that certainly happened at Farnborough. Katy Marlow from Farnborough Business park said "The pop-up gallery provided occupiers a reason to step away from their desk and busy workloads, to take some important time out and browse the artwork on display."
See "The Impact of Art in the Workplace" by Karen Higginbottom as featured in Forbes Magazine, May 2019.
James Stewart, from Zimmer Stewart Gallery said, “The reaction from staff, tenants and visitors has been phenomenal, much better than we could have expected."
The placement of these artworks had prompted discussions between colleagues and different companies in ways that seemingly had not happened before. This is just one of the benefits of well place, good contemporary art in the workplace.
In addition the Pop-Up included a further collaboration between Zimmer Stewart and Farnborough Sixth Form College Fine Art Students, when a selection of first year students were invited to attend a masterclass with professional artists Nick Bodimeade, Tom Farthing and Phil Tyler.
This was an opportunity to discuss their pathway into the world of art and for the artists to pass on their knowledge to assist the students with their own journeys.
James Stewart continued, "We held a masterclass led by three of the exhibiting professional artists (Tom Farthing, Nick Bodimeade & Phil Tyler), for nine first year Fine Art students. Students were engaged in the discussion and asked questions including how to put together a portfolio, commissions, the importance of networking & social media and much more.
We set out to put up and exhibition paintings and maybe sell a few, but in the end I think we achieved much more, and are thankful to Farnborough Business Park staff for making this exhibition possible.
Contact James Stewart at the Gallery if you want to find out more about placing contemporary art in your workplace.