New Generation Changes Image for Workplace

The face of the young American worker is changing, and they're decorated with ink and metal. About half of people in their 20s have either a tattoo or a body piercing other than traditional earrings. That figure, which is higher than the national average, is growing. As a result, employers are finding that dress codes may need updating. In some cases, bosses are loosening up to attract young talent. In others, managers are adding new rules to keep body art covered up. Usually, it's a simple matter of discussion and compromise. Most piercings are on the face, according to the recent study, but they can be removed.

It all depends on the industry. Colleen Harris, a 27-year-old librarian, worked in corporate technology sales before her library science degrees and tattoos. Her only visible body art was a nose stud, but she voluntarily removed it while at work. For some companies, allowing body art can be beneficial: it attracts young workers that may not feel welcome in more conservative environments. Of course, at workplaces like design firms, salons, and retailers targeting the younger adults, hiring employees with body art is exactly what one might expect. Joe Duffy, CEO of the design firm Duffy & Partners, said he hired a young woman about a year ago who used her tattoos as part of her application portfolio.

But in traditionally suit-and-tie service industries, bosses want body art hidden, according to Talar Herculian, an employment attorney with Fisher & Phillips LLP, and that means going about restricting it legally. More employers are mistakenly too vague about their dress code rather than too strict and that's when problems emerge. Although in some sectors, the shift may already be happening: SheaHedges' Sacks said that a few months ago at an interview with an out of the ordinary firm, the topic of tattoos came about. The interviewer stood up, lifted her leg on her desk, and pulled up her pant leg to show him the big butterfly tattoo on her calf.

Source: Fox News

An Ingredient to Success

To run a good company, you need to know the "craft" of business. To run a great company, you also need to practice the "art" of business. But to build a great business, you need art as well as craft. No, you don't have to know how to paint a picture or mold a sculpture, but the best entrepreneurs and managers add passion, creativity, and vision to their skill set. Much of what we do on a day-to-day basis is craft -- the workmanship of running a company. This is no small matter. You can't succeed in business unless you know how to keep your books, produce your product, supply your service.

Make no mistake, learning the craft of business is essential. Many decent businesses survive on craft alone -- by consistently doing the basic day-to-day tasks well. None survives on art alone. It's the difference between concept and execution, inspiration and perspiration. Even the most inspired business concept goes nowhere without hard-working execution. But if you want an exceptional business -- one that not only survives but excels, a business that provides you with exceptional rewards in both personal satisfaction as well as financial gains -- that's where the art of business takes over. When you put your passion and soul into your day-to-day operations, then you've become an artist as well as an entrepreneur.

Source: USA Today

The Business of Art

The business of art is conducted much like any other commercial venture in which something is bought, sold, or traded. Yet a work of art is not a commodity in the ordinary sense. Its value can shift radically in an instant, depending on the impact of collectors, dealers, curators, critics, or specialists. Their appraisals of historic, intellectual, and aesthetic values affect a work's monetary value in the marketplace.

Recognizing their potential as research tools for the study of provenance (a work of art's history of ownership), and the history of aesthetics, taste, patronage, and collecting, the Getty Research Institute acquires the records of various players in the art market:

The role of the dealer, as middleman between artist and collector, has evolved into that of a dominant art-world figure who can affect, and insome ways control, private and public perceptions of the history of art.

A collector may be motivated to attain works of art for a variety of reasons: aesthetic preferences, investment, speculation, scholarly study, or even as a social outlet.

Artists also participating in the art market, sometimes act as agents, dealers, critics, and collectors.

The scholar can exert considerable influence on the art market. As an advisor to museums, individual collectors, auction houses, and other agencies, they validate works of art and can determine and set aesthetic and market valuations.

Source: The Getty Research Institute

Children Collecting Art?

Dakota King, age 9, is greeted by the owners of a local gallery as they show off their newest purchases. She chose from the collection a $5,500 porcelain sculpture shaped like a basket and covered in tiny, platinum elephants. Galleries and auction houses around the country report that children who aren't old enough to drive are building collections that include works by Jasper Johns, Andy Warhol, Camille Pissaro, and Rembrandt. At Sotheby's in New York, an 11-year-old boy bid $352,000 for a Jeff Koons sculpture of a silver gnome.

Some teenagers are flipping art for quick profits. A few grade-schoolers are even loaning works to major museums, including Houston's Museum of Fine Arts. Children are emerging as one more niche. Collectors such as Bil Ehrlich, a real-estate developer, and Peter Brant, a film producer and magazine publisher, pay for their kids to collect works from name-brand artists. Other kids receive art allowances -- a $5,000 cap per piece is typical -- or buy art with their birthday, bar mitzvah or even tooth-fairy money. However, some dealers worry about entrusting masterpieces to occasionally grubby hands. But their are upsides to mixing kids and fine art. Families can reap potential tax benefits by putting art in a trust set up for their children. The move can sidestep a federal estate tax of up to 45% of the art's value if children had instead inherited it after their parents die.

But kid collectors say most of their friends couldn't care less about the art they are bringing home. One kid hasn't told his buddies about his Rembrandt because they're "more into skateboarding." Another says his playmates don't say much about his prized Vasquez. "They really like my baseball cards."

Source: Wall Street Journal

The Scrapbooking Business??

For years, our peers have been keeping a legacy of written history in the form of photographs, printed media, and memorabilia preserved in albums or scrapbooks. In fact, scrapbooking was a tradition similar to storytelling through pictures and visualization rather than a word of mouth. The humble beginning of the scrapbooking business began in 1976 when Marielen Christensen, founder of Keeping Memories Alive, started designing creative scrapbooking pages for her own family's photographic memories. She introduced inserting scrapbooking pages in sheet protectors and inside 3-ring binders. Ever since, it has become a lucrative business for many worldwide. This business is quickly catching up with children, adults, women and even senior citizens everywhere. As there are many opportunities available for a person to make money out of scrapbooking, it is not just a hobby. However, there are some that find cutting, sticking, and designing like a nightmare, especially if they aren't really into the practice. They might even find the prospect of putting together one page of artistic work too much for them to handle. Maybe they'd feel like you don't have the talent to put together one page even if their life depended on it. Maybe you just dont have the time to create a layout that will look nice with the photo or photos they want to use. Why worry about it when they can buy prepared scrapbook pages that already have layouts and designs. They just need to add the finishing touches like the photo and some accessories if they feel like it. One can do many things with scrapbooking, such as weddings, pregnancy, military, sports, educational years, vacations, etc. An individual can even attend classes and discover the best creations in places like Hobby Lobby or The Archives. This business has thrived into an industry that stocks scrapbooking supplies which were once difficult to find. It is considered as the meat and potatoes of the scrapbooking hobby by many enthusiasts. With the change of time, scrapbooking products have become sophisticated and easy to handle. They are all designed to make scrapbooking as simple as possible. Supplies are easy to find and can be ordered from a home-based retailer, on the internet, or in specialty stores. In fact, several within the business sell scrapbooking products via a multi-level direct sales company, while others are part of an independent group. As a testment to how big the scrapbooking business is, there are numerous shows and magazines that have cropped up on the subject. The industry offers so many tips and ideas on the internet as well. One can also find annual fairs and conventions taking place on scrapbooking.

Concept of Choosing Art

Robert Klonoski estimates six billion pieces of art being displayed in American homes. Only a small percentage of those pieces are originals. Original art, in marketing terms, tends to be a luxury item. The merchandise sells well in times of inflation and poorly in times of recession. The more expensive, the more elaborate it gets. Because art satifies their desires, people are more flexible where and on what types of pieces they spend their money. People do not have to buy the items, they want to buy them. It's the degree that a given work of art interests any potential buyer's deliberation about whether they are willing to part with any or all of their thousand dollars to purchase it. They may be interested in owning it exclusively for their individual viewing, or displaying it where others can also see it. Either way, they're obtaining it for the gratification. However, the simple decision about where to display it may have significance on what type of art they buy. If an individual is buying for their own viewing, he may be attracted to the art for its influence, quality, style, etc. They may relate with the artist's statement, connect with the artist's ideas, or share the same perspectives. Their ability to understand and appreciate the art that attracts them to it can also be a reason. In all of these situations, they corrolate in some way with the art and artist. The outcome is between them and the art. Then again, the buyer might view the art as a trophy, a symbol of their success and achievements in life. An indication may be made that they have a thousand dollars to spend and they can spend it on whatever they choose. They could believe that possessing original art sets them apart from those who own none. In these occurrences, they encounter a sense of contentment not necessarily related to the specifics of the art, but rather to the fact that they have the ability to own it. The art makes its owners feel better about themselves whenever they look at it and achieves its purpose from its owners' viewpoint. Many of the products we buy--clothes, cars, shoes--are functional, but yet also reflect aspects of ourselves. Art is no different, even though it illustrates things we like to see, feelings we can sympathize, or concepts that run parallel with our mentality. The art we buy is as much about who we are as it is about the artists who create it.

A Common Misconception

The majority of the population enjoy the arts: their beauty, inspiration, creativity. However, most people have a common misunderstanding that communities support the arts and culture at the expense of local economic development. Nationally, the nonprofit arts and culture industry creates $166.2 billion in economic activity annually. This spending assists 5.7 million full-time jobs in the United States. Because arts and culture organizations are firmly planted in their communities, these are jobs that remain local and cannot be shipped overseas. The industry also generates almost $30 billion in revenue to local, state, and federal governments each year. These levels of government collectly spend less than $4 million annually to support arts and culture. Also, arts and culture attract many tourists, and tourism research repeatedly shows that cultural travelers stay longer and spend more. Whether serving the local community or out-of-town visitors, an active arts and culture industry helps local businesses blossom. Today, cities all over the world are competing to entice new businesses as well as bright young professionals. International studies show that the winners will be communities that offer an abundance of arts and culture opportunities. As the arts flourish, so will change and creativity, the fuel that motivates our global economy.

Source: Americans for the Arts. Arts & Economic Prosperity III. Washington, D.C.