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WPCNR THE ARTIST.From Westchester Arts Council. February 20, 2014:
Some fifty business leaders gathered yesterday with Deputy County Executive Kevin J. Plunkett, and President and CEO of Americans for the Arts Robert Lynch at the Ritz-Carlton, Westchester hotel to promote what has become a national movement of partnerships between business and the arts. Leading this effort locally is ArtsWestchester, which over the next two years, in celebration of its milestone 50th anniversary in 2015, plans to inspire 50 new partnerships with local companies that will bolster Westchester’s neighborhoods and business opportunities.
Lynch, whose Washington, DC-based organization has a membership of 10,000 arts agencies throughout the country, believes that the arts and business are a “mighty powerful pair.” A recent study, he reports, revealed that in this competitive market, creativity outweighed management capability and dedication as the most valuable leadership quality to the 1500 business leaders polled.
“The arts are one of the most important aspects of what we do in Westchester County, said Kevin J. Plunkett at the event. “It’s a team effort, a partnership effort… The real partnership has to be a tripartite partnership – ArtsWestchester, County Government and private business.”
Established in 1965, ArtsWestchester is New York State’s largest private, not-for-profit service organization. Throughout the years, it has had a robust history of diverse business partnerships with such corporations as IBM, PepsiCo, First Niagara, Con Edison, J.P. Morgan Chase, Maxx Properties, RPW Group and Entergy, and more recently with Aetna Foundation, Curtis Instruments, Westchester Medical Center, Regeneron and the Cross County Shopping Center. Many of these partnerships will be demonstrated at today’s breakfast as a way to inspire others.
“These partnerships not only support the arts,” says ArtsWestchester CEO Janet Langsam, “but they have been shown to be good for business in that they promote innovative thinking and creativity in the workplace, strengthen community engagement and increase the vibrancy of places to live and work.”
Robert Lynch agrees, adding, “When the arts and businesses partner, everyone profits, and that’s the thing that savvy businesses across the country and savvy communities and community leaders have seen for a long, long time.”
ArtsWestchester offers a diverse menu of partnership opportunities throughout the year. They range from event sponsorship; to space rental; to advertising in its monthly publication, ArtsWNews; to volunteer opportunities and underwriting of educational programs. Partnership opportunities are also available with ArtsWestchester’s affiliate organizations, of which there are more than 150.
A list of ten (10) easy ways to partner with ArtsWestchester can be found at: www.artswestchester.org/artsandbusiness.
To arrange a custom arts & business partnership with ArtsWestchester, interested parties should contact Debbie Scates, Manager of Partnership Marketing, at (914) 428-4220 or email dscates@artswestchester.org.