Bank involvement in the arts that I like...
Howdy!
Anouk Hoedeman was kind enough to send me this press release from the National Gallery, detailing the winners of 2005-2006 Research Fellowships and TD Bank Financial Group Internships. (I imagine that about another 1,000 people got the press release as well.) Now unlike the Bank of Montreal's attempt to support art, or the Royal Bank's completely misguided shotgun wedding with Canadian Art Magazine that is their excuse for "supporting" the arts. This is an exercise that actually looks like it would pay off serious dividends (can't forget that we're talking about banks, now can we?)
According to what's there, TD coughed up $125,000. What they got for that is this: 4 students/year through 2008 for 12 weeks, doing what they love, and a piece of Inuit art. As the National Gallery's regular Research Fellowship Program coughs up $30K/year, I can imagine that the math is fairly similar, and each student will get something like $7,500 for 12 weeks worth of work (or for you math challenged folk, $30K/year). $30K for 4 years equals $120,000, which means that they are going to, or have spent $5,000 on some piece of Inuit art (or in other words a bargain!) to get the whole kit and kaboodle up to the $125K.
Now, where else can you get 20 young people who will swear by your company for the foreseeable future, and buy a piece of art that is guaranteed to tour the country. Since Canadian laws prevent any cultural item from being donated to an institution until the donor has owned it for three years, how much more is the piece of art going to be worth after it has toured the country and been featured in a couple of catalogues and reviews? Or in other words when it officially get donated to the National Gallery, and the TD Bank get's it's tax receipt? While it would be a stretch to get it all the way up to the $125,000 donation, it will still be a large chunk of change, which will offset their initial outlay.
I always did think that the TD Bank folk knew what they were doing. Maybe if I have the time, I'll go check out what the other banks are doing for the arts.
Anouk Hoedeman was kind enough to send me this press release from the National Gallery, detailing the winners of 2005-2006 Research Fellowships and TD Bank Financial Group Internships. (I imagine that about another 1,000 people got the press release as well.) Now unlike the Bank of Montreal's attempt to support art, or the Royal Bank's completely misguided shotgun wedding with Canadian Art Magazine that is their excuse for "supporting" the arts. This is an exercise that actually looks like it would pay off serious dividends (can't forget that we're talking about banks, now can we?)
According to what's there, TD coughed up $125,000. What they got for that is this: 4 students/year through 2008 for 12 weeks, doing what they love, and a piece of Inuit art. As the National Gallery's regular Research Fellowship Program coughs up $30K/year, I can imagine that the math is fairly similar, and each student will get something like $7,500 for 12 weeks worth of work (or for you math challenged folk, $30K/year). $30K for 4 years equals $120,000, which means that they are going to, or have spent $5,000 on some piece of Inuit art (or in other words a bargain!) to get the whole kit and kaboodle up to the $125K.
Now, where else can you get 20 young people who will swear by your company for the foreseeable future, and buy a piece of art that is guaranteed to tour the country. Since Canadian laws prevent any cultural item from being donated to an institution until the donor has owned it for three years, how much more is the piece of art going to be worth after it has toured the country and been featured in a couple of catalogues and reviews? Or in other words when it officially get donated to the National Gallery, and the TD Bank get's it's tax receipt? While it would be a stretch to get it all the way up to the $125,000 donation, it will still be a large chunk of change, which will offset their initial outlay.
I always did think that the TD Bank folk knew what they were doing. Maybe if I have the time, I'll go check out what the other banks are doing for the arts.
posted by Zeke's, the Montreal Art Gallery on 4.10.05
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