Misty Chambers

ESa Architects Builds a World with More Art

Posted by Misty Chambers, Jul 15, 2014 0 comments


Misty Chambers

Misty Chambers Misty Chambers

“Leadership by the business world is to re-invent art from being expendable to being essential.” –Earl S. Swensson, FAIA

Recognized as one of the 2012 BCA 10, our architectural firm continues to engage in arts partnerships within the community. Our leadership has understood the importance of the arts since the founding of the company by Earl Swensson in 1961.

For our employees at ESa, art and design are integral to not only what we do for a living, but, in many cases, it defines how we interact with the world at large. It is not possible to separate the artist from his intuitive draw to the arts. The incorporation of art into the environments that we design, be it in a visual, tactile or audible form, is at the core of what we do. Our young professionals show particular enthusiasm for the arts in our community, as demonstrated by their volunteerism and leadership in various firm efforts.

Some ongoing initiatives include:

  • Sponsorships for the Frist Center for the Visual Arts; Cheekwood Tennessee Botanical Gardens & Museum of Art; Art 2 Stem; Blair School of Music; Cumberland Museum; Greater Nashville Arts Foundation; Nashville Ballet; Nashville Civic Design Center; Nashville Institute for the Arts; Nashville Opera; Nashville Symphony; Tennessee Performing Arts Center; W.O. Smith Music School; and Watkins College of Design, Art & Film, just to name a few.
  • Our company participates in the annual Artworks show sponsored by the Arts & Business Council of Greater Nashville.
  • Our firm holds an employee Art Show each year as part of our annual Heartwalk fundraiser. Employees display their artwork at the office, and pieces are selected for our annual silent auction benefiting the American Heart Association.
  • Misty Chambers, M.S.N., R.N., Assoc. AIA, EDAC, ESa’s clinical operations/design specialist, is currently serving as president, board of directors of the Global Alliance for Arts & Health (formerly known as the Society for the Arts in Healthcare).
  • As a charter member of Planetree’s Visual Design Network, our firm supports the healing arts through practice and sponsorships.
  • Five $ Fridays—One Friday each month, our employees can pay $5 to wear jeans to work. The proceeds of this fundraiser support local non-profits, many of which are arts related.
  • Our employees serve on advisory boards, design juries and/or serve as guest lecturers for the UT School of Architecture; Nashville State Community College Department of Civil Engineering & Architecture; Nashville Civic Design Center; O’More College of Design; Watkins College of Art, Design & Film; Metro Public Schools and Williamson County Public Schools.

Integrating the arts into everything we do brings to mind our founder’s statement of belief: ‘Not having art is no different than if we didn't have oxygen to breathe.'

 

Our blog salon on Unique Business Partnerships this week is generously sponsored by Drexel University Online.

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