Corporate Art Collections in the Changing Workplace Environment. A Qualitative Study of the relevance of Corporate Art Collections in the Netherlands within the Changing Workplace Environment

This thesis investigates the relevance of Corporate Art Collections (CACs) in the Netherlands within the changing Workplace Environment (WE). Throughout the past 14 months the world has been in the grip of global health crisis referred to as the COVID-19 pandemic. For the corporate world this has led to many people working from home (WFH) and offices are now empty. This also means that the works of art inhabit these buildings, are no longer seen. What is the purpose of these CACs when they are not physically experienced by employees? This qualitative research aims to create an understanding of the relevance of these CACs in light the developments within the WE of the last several years, and ways in which the COVID-19 pandemic might have amplified these. To investigate this topic, 11 interviews with were conducted with experts in the field. The recordings of the semi-structured interviews were transcribed manually. Thereafter, the transcriptions were coded, and a thematic analysis was performed to go from data to conceptual findings. The findings that emerged through the thematic analysis that contribute towards answering the research question are the development of a hybrid WE, the embedded nature of the value of the CAC, and the integration of the CAC into the WE. These findings pointed out that to stay relevant within the changing WE, the CAC must establish new ties to both the physical and virtual WE. Moreover, the findings suggested that CACs must take a critical stance regarding the ownership of artworks.