{"id":835001,"date":"2024-02-19T20:21:55","date_gmt":"2024-02-20T01:21:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.steelcase.com\/?p=833553"},"modified":"2024-08-05T14:16:11","modified_gmt":"2024-08-05T18:16:11","slug":"shaping-change-through-art","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.steelcase.com\/research\/articles\/topics\/people-planet\/shaping-change-through-art\/","title":{"rendered":"Shaping Change Through Art"},"content":{"rendered":"

Steelcase acknowledges its presence on the original land of the Anishinaabe people in Western Michigan, the historic homeland of the People of the Three Fires: the Ojibwe, Odawa and Potawatomi nations and recognizes the sovereignty of the Indigenous communities here.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

A shrill din screams through the Asinaabe Studios workshop, echoing off its time-worn red brick walls. As artist Jason Quigno bears his steel blade deeper into the sheer face of a limestone slab, fine powder blossoms into the blond autumn sunlight. Like the powerful winds and waters of Anishinaabe lore \u2013 Quigno gradually wears down the four-ton block, shaping it to its intended form. He\u2019s in his element \u2013 with his element \u2013 creating a culturally significant piece with a very special purpose.<\/p>\n

The sculpture \u2013 called Maawanji’idiwag (mah-wahn-jee-ihd-ee-wahg) \u2013 means \u201cthey come together, and meet with each other.\u201d Quarried as one block, it was split into two pieces. Visually inspired by the headdresses of Quigno\u2019s heritage, Maawanji\u2019idiwag represents beauty and balance; a symbol of humanity\u2019s interconnectedness \u2013 two separate pieces, born of a singular element \u2013 forever and irrevocably intertwined.<\/p>\n

\"Maawanji'idiwag
Maawanji’idiwag By Jason Quigno at the Steelcase Learning + Innovation Center in Grand Rapids, Michigan<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

For many at Steelcase, Maawanji’idiwag represents a step toward positive change, promise and hope. The inspiring seven-foot sculpture now welcomes employees and visitors to the Steelcase Learning + Innovation Center in Grand Rapids, Michigan \u2013 the culmination of a grassroots, employee-driven effort to enhance inclusion and representation within the facility, and a new corporate commitment to diverse art curation.<\/p>\n

Steelcase is on an inclusive design<\/a> journey to create environments where employees, customers and guests feel valued, respected and accepted as their authentic selves. Art representative of diverse and local cultures is one way to signal an environment of belonging. For decades, Steelcase collected and displayed art to enrich its common spaces. Now, the organization is working to ensure its curation is more reflective of the diverse communities it employs and serves through a deliberate, sustained and on-going commitment to investing in emerging artists from underrepresented cultures.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Inclusive Art Project has been an incredible employee-driven and leader-supported effort, and we have all learned together on this journey,\u201d says Donna Flynn, vice president of global talent. \u201cIt\u2019s a great example of how as leaders we need to listen to all ideas and voices across the company as we seek to find new and impactful ways to nurture a culture of inclusion at Steelcase for our people.\u201d<\/p>\n

Empowered Employees<\/h1>\n

For Steelcase employees Reid Culberson and Fil Zerom, the sculpture \u2013 and their hard work in bringing it to fruition \u2013 is a milestone moment they believe moves the organization even closer to its goals around fostering inclusion.<\/p>\n

\"Reid
Reid Culberson and Fil Zerom, Steelcase engineers, in front of Maawanji’idiwag.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The product engineers recognized when they began working at Steelcase that the spaces where they worked \u2013 unintentionally<\/strong> <\/em>\u2013 didn\u2019t speak to them, their culture or their lived experiences as Black men in the U.S.<\/p>\n

\u201cWalking into my first big corporate job, I looked around, and I couldn\u2019t help but feel intimidated,\u201d Culberson says. \u201cDespite the fact that everyone was friendly and welcoming, I still felt like I didn\u2019t belong.\u201d<\/p>\n

Zerom, a first generation American whose parents emigrated from Eritrea, knows well the isolation associated with feeling disconnected from the environments in which we spend the most time.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a child, I had to adapt to being in a different culture. I felt like I had to put on a mask. I was not the person I was when I was with my family or Eritrean friends.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI know how lonely it is when you feel like you can\u2019t be yourself.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

FIL ZEROM <\/strong>| Steelcase engineer<\/p>\n

Culberson and Zerom weren\u2019t the only ones who recognized their environment didn\u2019t represent them. They heard the same from colleagues of color, as well as interns and visitors from other states and countries. They knew they wanted to help make a change.<\/p>\n

Around the same time, the pair was introduced to the work of Theaster Gates, a Chicago-based artist and professor who focuses on space, buildings, art, and how they intersect with people and communities. Gates\u2019 work inspired them to start a dialogue around creating more inclusive spaces at Steelcase.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt got us thinking \u2013 our space isn\u2019t exclusive intentionally, but how do we impact that space to get Steelcase excited to celebrate the idea that everybody should be part of the community \u2013 that everyone should feel welcomed and valued,\u201d Zerom says. \u201cTheaster Gates uses art to do that. We thought \u2013 we\u2019re a design organization, it would be cool if we could do the same thing \u2013 change through art.\u201d<\/p>\n

The engineers were empowered by the DEI core team to share their ideas with the organization\u2019s leadership \u2013 which then led to the commission of Maawanji’idiwag. A team collaborated with Fil and Reid in exploring some 50 artists from underrepresented communities around the world, understanding their stories and inspiration. The group chose Quigno. There are plans for additional inclusive art commissions going forward, and Steelcase has already made investments in locally-made or indigenous art at its facilities in Munich and in Australia<\/a>. Zerom and Culberson believe the new sculpture is a small step on a journey of deeper cultural inclusivity \u2013 key to attracting and retaining diverse talent and fostering greater representation throughout the organization.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt makes me feel like my voice is being heard, and I feel more included in Steelcase as a company \u2013 as a contributor to what we\u2019re doing here,\u201d Culberson says. \u201cBut the job\u2019s not done.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe know spaces don\u2019t change culture \u2013 people change culture.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

REID CULBERSON<\/strong> | Steelcase engineer<\/p>\n

\n

The Art of \u2018Good feeling\u2019<\/h1>\n
\"Jason
Jason Quigno at his Asinaabe Studio Workshop in Grand Rapids, Michigan<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

With pneumatic chisel in hand, Quigno chunks shards of limestone that clink as they gather in a heap on the floor. It\u2019s a livelihood for him, yes, but also a diligent labor of love. The Native American artist stoically embodies the values of his ancestors \u2013 his works, steeped in their influence.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was taught that when you make something, you infuse good feeling into it,\u201d says Quigno from his Asinaabe Studio workshop, which translates to \u201cstone man\u201d in the Anishinaabe dialect.<\/p>\n

For Quigno, a member of the Saginaw Chippewa Tribe of Michigan, Maawanji’idiwag is personal. Peering through his studio\u2019s thin, industrial windows \u2013 vignetted by the dust of countless projects that came before \u2013 the artist is pensive. \u201cI believe it\u2019s part of my responsibility \u2013 because of the permanence of it \u2013 that all of my work reflects my culture,\u201d Quigno says thoughtfully, in his low, distinctive Anishinaabe cadence. \u201cThis will be here for thousands of years.\u201d<\/p>\n

Maawanji’idiwag also pays homage to the teachings of \u2018The Seven Grandfathers\u2019 \u2013 humility, bravery, honesty, wisdom, truth, respect and love. Quigno believes these culturally-transcendent tenets are foundational to a strong and sustainable community.<\/p>\n

\"Jason
Jason Quigno works on Maawanji’idiwag at his Grand Rapids, Mich. studio<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The artist began carving rock as a teen \u2013 starting with a handheld figure he made in a stone working class. Now, shuffling through the fine powder that envelops every inch of his old industrial studio, Quigno points to the ropes and pulleys draped from the ceiling. \u201cThis work that I do \u2013 as I\u2019ve progressed over the years \u2013 the pieces have gotten bigger and more intricate,\u201d Quigno quips, motioning to a several-ton sculpture harnessed nearby.<\/p>\n

His outsized works appear at the Grand Rapids Art Museum, the Gerald R. Ford International Airport in Grand Rapids, the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington, D.C., at city halls in Marquette, Michigan and Okaya, Japan \u2013 and now \u2013 at the Steelcase Learning + Innovation Center in Grand Rapids, where Maawanji’idiwag welcomes employees and visitors to the space \u2013 proudly signaling a place committed to belonging for everyone.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat I hope people get from this piece is a sense of beauty, peace and simplicity,\u201d Quigno says. \u201cIt\u2019s a physical representation of how two different things can come together in harmony. You put them together in a cohesive way, it\u2019s just beautiful. Diversity can be beautiful.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

See how employees, encouraged to take action, are using the power of art to make workspaces more representative and foster a greater sense of belonging.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":37261,"featured_media":835146,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"topic":[47663],"class_list":["post-835001","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","topic-people-planet"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nDesigning an Inclusive Workplace Through Art - Steelcase<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Learn how Steelcase employees Reid Culbertson and Fil Zerom are empowered to develop more culturally inclusive design at Steelcase using artwork.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.steelcase.com\/research\/articles\/topics\/people-planet\/shaping-change-through-art\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Designing an Inclusive Workplace Through Art - Steelcase\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Learn how Steelcase employees Reid Culbertson and Fil Zerom are empowered to develop more culturally inclusive design at Steelcase using artwork.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.steelcase.com\/research\/articles\/topics\/people-planet\/shaping-change-through-art\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Steelcase\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-02-20T01:21:55+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-08-05T18:16:11+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/images.steelcase.com\/image\/upload\/c_fill,dpr_auto,q_70,h_600,w_1200\/v1709648871\/23-0224133.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Gema Perez\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Gema Perez\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"7 minutes\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Designing an Inclusive Workplace Through Art - Steelcase","description":"Learn how Steelcase employees Reid Culbertson and Fil Zerom are empowered to develop more culturally inclusive design at Steelcase using artwork.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.steelcase.com\/research\/articles\/topics\/people-planet\/shaping-change-through-art\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Designing an Inclusive Workplace Through Art - Steelcase","og_description":"Learn how Steelcase employees Reid Culbertson and Fil Zerom are empowered to develop more culturally inclusive design at Steelcase using artwork.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.steelcase.com\/research\/articles\/topics\/people-planet\/shaping-change-through-art\/","og_site_name":"Steelcase","article_published_time":"2024-02-20T01:21:55+00:00","article_modified_time":"2024-08-05T18:16:11+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":600,"url":"https:\/\/images.steelcase.com\/image\/upload\/c_fill,dpr_auto,q_70,h_600,w_1200\/v1709648871\/23-0224133.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Gema Perez","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Gema Perez","Est. reading time":"7 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.steelcase.com\/research\/articles\/topics\/people-planet\/shaping-change-through-art\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.steelcase.com\/research\/articles\/topics\/people-planet\/shaping-change-through-art\/"},"author":{"name":"Gema Perez","@id":"https:\/\/www.steelcase.com\/#\/schema\/person\/494e3c13cba2b472b7a797655f0f9ea9"},"headline":"Shaping Change Through Art","datePublished":"2024-02-20T01:21:55+00:00","dateModified":"2024-08-05T18:16:11+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.steelcase.com\/research\/articles\/topics\/people-planet\/shaping-change-through-art\/"},"wordCount":1388,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.steelcase.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.steelcase.com\/research\/articles\/topics\/people-planet\/shaping-change-through-art\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/images.steelcase.com\/image\/upload\/v1709648871\/23-0224133.jpg","inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.steelcase.com\/research\/articles\/topics\/people-planet\/shaping-change-through-art\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.steelcase.com\/research\/articles\/topics\/people-planet\/shaping-change-through-art\/","url":"https:\/\/www.steelcase.com\/research\/articles\/topics\/people-planet\/shaping-change-through-art\/","name":"Designing an Inclusive Workplace Through Art - Steelcase","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.steelcase.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.steelcase.com\/research\/articles\/topics\/people-planet\/shaping-change-through-art\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.steelcase.com\/research\/articles\/topics\/people-planet\/shaping-change-through-art\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/images.steelcase.com\/image\/upload\/v1709648871\/23-0224133.jpg","datePublished":"2024-02-20T01:21:55+00:00","dateModified":"2024-08-05T18:16:11+00:00","description":"Learn how Steelcase employees Reid Culbertson and Fil Zerom are empowered to develop more culturally inclusive design at Steelcase using artwork.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.steelcase.com\/research\/articles\/topics\/people-planet\/shaping-change-through-art\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.steelcase.com\/research\/articles\/topics\/people-planet\/shaping-change-through-art\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.steelcase.com\/research\/articles\/topics\/people-planet\/shaping-change-through-art\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/images.steelcase.com\/image\/upload\/v1709648871\/23-0224133.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/images.steelcase.com\/image\/upload\/v1709648871\/23-0224133.jpg","width":2560,"height":1707,"caption":"Man building an art piece"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.steelcase.com\/research\/articles\/topics\/people-planet\/shaping-change-through-art\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.steelcase.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Shaping Change Through Art"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.steelcase.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.steelcase.com\/","name":"Steelcase","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.steelcase.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.steelcase.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.steelcase.com\/#organization","name":"Steelcase","url":"https:\/\/www.steelcase.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.steelcase.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/images.steelcase.com\/image\/upload\/v1531399627\/sc_core_424_sm-1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/images.steelcase.com\/image\/upload\/v1531399627\/sc_core_424_sm-1.jpg","width":331,"height":87,"caption":"Steelcase"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.steelcase.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.steelcase.com\/#\/schema\/person\/494e3c13cba2b472b7a797655f0f9ea9","name":"Gema Perez","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.steelcase.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ed5d03d0a6e1a53f658d47fbf0c4cc79?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ed5d03d0a6e1a53f658d47fbf0c4cc79?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Gema Perez"},"url":"https:\/\/www.steelcase.com\/research\/articles\/author\/gperez4steelcase-com\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.steelcase.com\/restapi\/wp\/v2\/posts\/835001"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.steelcase.com\/restapi\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.steelcase.com\/restapi\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.steelcase.com\/restapi\/wp\/v2\/users\/37261"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.steelcase.com\/restapi\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=835001"}],"version-history":[{"count":47,"href":"https:\/\/www.steelcase.com\/restapi\/wp\/v2\/posts\/835001\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":848098,"href":"https:\/\/www.steelcase.com\/restapi\/wp\/v2\/posts\/835001\/revisions\/848098"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.steelcase.com\/restapi\/wp\/v2\/media\/835146"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.steelcase.com\/restapi\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=835001"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.steelcase.com\/restapi\/wp\/v2\/topic?post=835001"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}