Capital One uses local artwork to create ‘windows’

As Capital One Financial Corp. wraps up a building remodel this month at its northeast Sioux Falls office, the company looked close to home for help with the finishing touches.

All the art set to go on display in the remodeled building came from Sioux Falls and South Dakota artists.

“Obviously, we are not a Sioux Falls company, but we have Sioux Falls employees, and this just reflects our commitment to the community,” director David Long said.

Virginia-based Capital One has set a corporate standard encouraging each branch to become involved in their local communities, according to Long.

Local art is one way to keep the company attractive to local employees, and it also will “strengthen culture and brand ... to any visitors we might have in the building,” Long said.

“We expect a lot of our associates,” he said. “We expect them to come in and be creative, and this (local art) really provides an opportunity just to strengthen that culture.”

Capital One contracted with Sioux Falls art consultant Kara Dirkson to acquire local art for the building.

“It’s been exciting to work with an entity that is so large but has such a strong interest in our local art scene,” Dirkson said. “I was really excited about the project from the get-go.”

Capital One’s request for local art was “unique,” according to Dirkson, who recently moved to a new position as the director of the Visual Arts Center at the Washington Pavilion.

In her time working in fine art appraisal, she said she saw primarily local businesses interested in local art to decorate their office spaces.

In her contract with Capital One, Dirkson estimated she acquired 40 to 45 pieces of artwork from a dozen artists.

The art selected for display in the remodeled building encompasses a variety of mediums, from pictures to abstract art.

“It was so refreshing to have such a large corporate entity take such a distinct interest in the local art scene,” she said.

Another unique aspect of Dirkson’s contract with Capital One was the freedom she had in negotiating artwork. She said the company never asked artists to “undersell” their work or for Dirkson to take a commission from the artists.

“It ended up with more money in the artists’ pockets for their work,” Dirkson said.

Not all of the locally crafted pieces have been installed in the building yet, but Long said he already has received positive feedback from employees.

“There (are) people that are amazed that we have this kind of talent in the area,” Long said.

The art not only reflects the Sioux Falls area, but also features Native American artwork and artists at Capital One’s request.

“To come from such a large entity, for them to make that request was really exciting,” Dirkson said.

She was impressed by Capital One’s commitment to employees during the remodel.

The artwork “was primarily for employee spaces, for the people who are filling the call center cubes,” Dirkson said. “It wasn’t to decorate those only partially used, quiet, exec spaces.”

Julie Rakes, a Capital One spokeswoman, said local artwork livens up windowless rooms in the company’s office buildings.

“We have interior conference rooms, so it brings a kind of light and pictures to some of our conference rooms,” she said.

In Sioux Falls, the leadership deliberately tried to keep the look local.

“We truly tried to create an environment where, when someone’s looking at a wall that’s most likely an interior wall, it might be a window out to what they would see in the landscape in Sioux Falls ... and around the state,” Long said.