Article in CBRE's Blueprint Online Magazine

Elevating Office Spaces with Inspiring Art

Director Katie Henry was interviewed by Emma Kantrowitz of CBRE's online magazine Blueprint, to ask about how art can elevate an office. CBRE is the worlds leading commercial property and real estate services adviser, providing a comprehensive range of commercial property services.

For U.K.-based curator Katie Henry, the importance of showcasing art in office spaces is nothing new. Since founding her aptly named firm Art in Offices in 2012, she’s helped dozens of companies fill their bare walls with interesting and inspiring artwork.

“When you’re thinking about an environment for people to work in, it’s so mind numbing to only have a white wall to look at, or worse, corporate posters. You need those few microseconds away from your desk to escape, just to stare at something nice,” Henry says. “Paintings are something you can get lost in—they give you inspiration, they’re chewing gum for the eyes while you’re thinking about something and they make a space so much more dynamic.”

She recognizes that navigating the art world for affordable pieces can be tricky, so Art in Offices offers three options: Companies can rent art starting at £40 per month, buy art from £500 or rotate art every few months through her subscription program, which starts at £100 per month.

“We act as a broker essentially between clients and artists. We sign artists that already have a body of art that they’re trying to sell,” Henry says. “When we go to a space, I can think through a stock of artwork that we have that might fit. We get a sense of the company, ask about the personality and then we talk to them about preferred colors and preferred styles to find the right match.”