Microsoft Office 2007 Professional blog on-art-and

1 perk of operating in a Microsoft developing is viewing the pieces in the Microsoft Artwork Assortment. Yes, that;s right. Microsoft has its own art collection and its very own in-house curator. According to the Art Collection website: Art in the work environment fosters elements essential to a company;s success, as responses inside a recent survey of 32 companies attest. They felt that artwork inside the workplace: -Enhances employee morale
-Leads to networking opportunities
-Reduces stress
-Increases creativity and productivity
-Broadens employee appreciation of diversity
-Encourages discussions and expression of opinions
-Evidences the company;s interest in improving quality of life in and outside of the company
-Helps to build customer and community relations I am no artwork aficionado, and in fact, I;d rather do most anything than go to an art museum, but I have to admit that the items I;ve viewed from the current assortment are interesting, to say the least. Periodically, the artwork rotates buildings. I work in Creating 19 which, according to the directional signs on campus, is the Recruiting developing. My building is many people;s first glimpse of corporate campus. A few weeks ago, we received a new piece of art on the second floor of 19. The work is a David Kroll piece entitled Dinner Table. As candidates ascend the lobby staircase to the second floor, they are greeted by this piece. I was unable to find a picture of the piece on the internet, but for all you Microsofties, it can be viewed on the intranet art site. I;m not very good at describing art, but I;ll do by best. Per the website, the piece is an “oil on linen” and its dimensions (H x W) are 59 ½X71 … so fairly large, as you can imagine. The centerpiece of the picture is a formal dining room table set in seemingly Garden of Eden type surroundings. On the table is a disheveled tablecloth with overturned and broken dishes scattered about. Below the table are more broken dishes, an apple, and several intertwined snakes. The tone of the piece is very ominous, and I can only imagine it;s meant to conjure images of sin, temptation, gluttony, and destruction (or at least, that;s how I see it.) Overall, it;s a striking piece, but it doesn;t exactly exude shiny, happy thoughts. When the piece first arrived, it was the buzz of my creating. How very disturbing that must be for a nervous interview candidate to march toward his first encounter with the Microsoft hiring process, only to be met with this less than positive image. 19 is an old creating, but Microsoft has dropped a lot of money into transforming the interior façade into a more inviting environment (think IKEA meets Prozac), but this piece certainly didn;t help the cause. In true Building 19 fashion, the complaining and hallway chatter persisted. What must the candidates think? Who made the decision to place this piece in our creating? Can we find alternate routes to avoid viewing this piece first thing in the morning? But again in Creating 19 fashion, no one did anything … Until yesterday. Yesterday morning, an enterprising recruiter sent a simple e-mail to the Art Assortment alias. He wrote: Would it be possible to have the following artwork removed from the 2nd floor lobby of bldg 19 and replaced with something more inviting? Bldg 19 is where recruiting candidates get their initial impressions before the start of the interview day and this piece doesn;t create the positive impression that recruiting candidates should have as they begin the day. I have seen candidates just stare at the piece and others have commented on it with concern that hopefully the art is not reflective of what is to come during the day. The recruiters that I have talked to have indicated that they would rather have something more appropriate on the wall. 90 minutes later, the curator responded, and 24 hours later the piece was gone. And that recruiter who sent the simple email is now a hero. In my research for this post, I;ve viewed many of David Kroll;s items. He seems to be a talented artist, and if I were strolling through a museum, I;m sure I;d be captivated by Dinner Table. That said,Microsoft Office 2007 Professional, I look forward to something more cheery gracing our second floor wall. gretchen Update: I posted a picture of the Dinner Table in my next post.