Marketplace looks at art supported by corporations:
over the last couple of years, a new variety of artist-in-residence program has entered the scene, this time sponsored by big companies. […] In San Francisco, the software company Autodesk invites artists to spend up to six months working in their facilities, giving them a stipend and funds for their materials. Facebook has also quietly launched its own artist-in-residence program, where artists are paid to create artwork that will adorn the walls of its buildings.
[…]
Meanwhile the T-shirt company Threadless has a resident graffiti artist. Siemens offers a musicians-in-residence program through its hearing aid division, while Kohler has been inviting visual artists to use its industrial equipment to create sculptures for some time. Honeywell is also currently in the thick of developing its own residency program and is hoping to learn from other companies that have already done so.
Welcome to the brave new world of the corporate-sponsored artist. Many in the art community are excited about the possibility of this new influx of funding from the corporate sector. “Anything that is opening up more space for artists to do their work is a great thing,”
Welcome To The Brave New World Of The Corporate-Sponsored Artist (Fast Company)