Art Gallery Provides Inspiration at B2B Agency
Can you point to your office walls and declare them a work of art? B2B agency CommCreative can—and they’re not just looking at posters of their own campaign work.
The shop’s HQ—based west of Boston in Framingham, MA—is home to the Factory Mark Gallery, a 2,500 space that hosts exhibitions of local artists.
On Saturday, April 8 , a new showing of works by Newton, MA abstract contemporary artist Susan Bazett will open, featuring her original oil paintings, wood block prints and more. Proceeds will go to the wildlife protection organization Tusk.
Last year, the agency—which works primarily with B2B clients in a number of verticals and some B2C accounts—outgrew its old offices, which were split between two buildings that were actually once residential homes. It relocated to a 14,000-foot-space that was previously home to the R.H. Long Factory Complex, which housed manufacturers of automotive undercarriages and shoes in the early 1900’s.
To honor the building’s history, the gallery was christened the Factory Mark Gallery, alluding to the fact that just like artists make their mark on the world, every factory has its own “mark” or symbol to authenticate products build at their facility.
Agency partner Lisa McCarthy describes the building as a “big open canvas,” both for artists within and outside the agency. Not only does the gallery itself host exhibitions, but work by guest artists and creative on staff is on walls all over the building.
“I felt that since we’re a creative business, I wanted to create visually inspiring space and support artists that I saw that are emerging,” she notes. “They’re committed to their art, but they need support.”
Unlike commercial galleries that might take a 40% or more commission off sales, artists who exhibit at Factory Mark keep 100% of their sales.
“It’s just really taken off,” says McCarthy, an artist herself, specializing in painting and multimedia. “The gallery lives in the main lobby where people enter the agency. People who work here are just so inspired by the space.”
The exhibit opening this weekend is the second major show at the Gallery since it opened last November. “We’ll keep [the timing of shows] fluid and let the artists be in control. That’s important to me,” she says, noting that the building is also home to another space, dubbed the Machine Shop Gallery, for exhibitions that require less space than the 2,500 square foot lobby.
For more information about the exhibition and the gallery, click here.
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