Transforming Empty Walls: Boston One Campus Employee Art Shows

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Written by Guest Blogger, Donna Berger

In 2014, shortly after we moved from the Billerica to the new Boston One Campus in Andover, I walked through the facility and noticed so many empty white hallways brightly lit with track lighting, and in particular, the lobby area next to the main conference room.

My passion is art…and when not at work, I spend much of my free time, drawing and painting portraits of people and children, pets, nature, plein air landscapes and whatever else captures my fancy. The empty wall situation ignited a creative spark, we should transform the empty walls into an art show, displaying my recent series of 24” x 24” hummingbird paintings since they complement the Schneider Electric brand color, green. I proposed this idea to the management team, and am pleased to report they agreed to display 6 of these paintings on easels. This was made a fabulous addition to the lobby area!

Employees and visitors enjoyed this grand opening art show so much I decided to create a proposal for ongoing employee art shows in that same space. Using my vast experience of participation and hanging of shows, I drafted and presented an employee art show proposal. Fortunately, the leadership team approved it along with the purchase of quality wood easels and a professional hanging system. Below is a list of shows and participants.

BOC Employee Art Shows

Participants

Kevin Austerlitz, Ashley Baker, Matt Bailey, Donna Berger, DJ Brennan, Jean Marc Calandre, David Chase, Jiayin Chen, Janet Cerniglia, Michael Condor, Joe Dechene, Tom Dineen, Jamie Donalds, James Donovan, Kesla Duka, Jason Dutra, Norman Ferreira, Teri Gambardella, Gary Gibson, Benjamin Gray, Michael Kadlec, Alexander Koudriashov, Jacqueline Lehr, Howard Lung, Jacqueline Masse, Gerald Maglitta, Hiroshi Morimoto, Ralf Neubert, Suzanne Nobile, Christophe Oliver, Jian Pan, Glenn Pierce, Kelly Rodriguez, Chun Sun, Andrea Taco, Jeff Titus, Alexandra Visnick, Richard Vogel, Rachel Wardwell, Dawn Wolejko and Carol Zhang.

It’s been 3 years since that first opening event and the employee art shows still continue to be popular; in fact they have become a favorite spot for visitor tours of the Boston One Campus facility. We have new participants for almost each show!

I am proud of the employees who understand my passion for art and appreciate their support by contributing art, hanging and labeling, providing refreshments and music for the opening receptions and other ways that make this program a success!

Besides the art show, I have also held lunchtime drawing classes last summer. It was a great experience for all that participated. We are so fortunate that Boston One Campus management encourages and supports employees like me to share their passion, providing a really great work-life balance.

About the Author
Donna Berger has been working as user experience graphic designer in the ITB Division of Schneider Electric for the last 4 years. When she is not at Schneider Electric, she focuses on her primary passion, ART! She is an artist-in-residence at the Chelmsford Center for the Arts where she paints, illustrates and draws a variety of subjects including portraits of people, children and pets, nature, landscapes and whatever else captures her fancy. Her work can be seen in many local galleries and museums. She enjoys sharing her joy for doing art and said that working on the Employee gallery has been a pleasure.