The Business Case For Investing in Great Women Art

As organizations evolve, leaders are using art as a tool... to inspire teams, capture their client's attention, help attract and retain top talent. 

JO NAPIER's portraits and prints honour Great Women.  

Companies can commission from Napier an individual, or a collection, of Great Women portraits and portrait prints and create customized spaces that deeply impact employees' and clients' understanding of what that company truly values.

Boardroom collections - like our 'Mothers of Science' - helps STEM companies reveal the real meaning of 'women's work'.  Here's what one Angel Investor had to say after viewing one of JO NAPIER's 'Great Women' boardroom collections (background image):

'What makes a portrait evocative and memorable? When we see a portrait, it is most often of someone we have never met. And yet, an exceptional piece of art can express personality, an era, a mindset, even a lifetime of work....

Research tells us that women are more aware of, and responsive to, our environments than men. Space and context matter. For women who have spent decades in corporate boardrooms, we know the physical environment is typically staid... Certainly, many organizations have beautiful collections of original art, and yet most of them depict landscapes or are abstract in nature. When it comes to portraits, we know the drill: old men, titans of industry, no doubt major contributors to the company they founded or built, but effectively unknown to the employees or meeting guests of today.

The first time I saw Jo’s work was in a boardroom at RBC Dominion Securities in Halifax. Walking into a room that is furnished by portraits of incredible women is a visceral experience. And it is one we need to replicate. I liken it to the importance of having role models in any field - we need to see and know these women who have come before us, so that we can see ourselves realizing our dreams in these same industries and professions.  

Thinking about the years ahead for our larger corporations, we know that younger generations have a complicated relationship with ‘return to work’. With that in mind, we have an opportunity to create more inspiring spaces in which women feel they belong and want to spend their time. I hope that Jo’s work finds a home in Canadian workplaces that want to signal the importance and value of diverse gender, thought, experience and aspirations. "