Qatar- VCUarts students, alumna capture GWC's corporate spirit in paintings

(MENAFN - The Peninsula) Students and an alumna from the department of Painting + Printmaking (PAPR) at Virginia Commonwealth University School of the Arts in Qatar (VCUarts Qatar) helped capture Gulf Warehousing Company's (GWC) corporate culture and vision in a series of bespoke artwork for their new Regional Center at Ras Bufontas Free Zone, recently. Ece Yigit and Alice Aslem, two PAPR students, and Salma Awad, a PAPR alumna, created 29 paintings for various sections of GWC's office including the main reception lobby, meeting rooms and various locations within the building. Yigit, due to her experience in collaborating with local fit-out companies for customized artwork, was initially approached by 1000 Walls, an interior design company tasked with fitting out the interiors of the new GWC Regional Center, to create artwork for their client. Over a series of meetings with the design company, and then with the marketing and communications team and leadership of GWC, Yigit familiarized herself with the creative proposal and conceptually developed the paintings over eight weeks. 'The brief that GWC provided was quite specific, explains Yigit. 'The artwork had to be in the form of paintings. Most of these paintings had to be abstract, complementing the interior decor and incorporating GWC's corporate culture and vision. 'The company also wanted a few paintings in a more realistic style; these were meant to highlight the positioning of the company as a regional leader in logistics, and as the official logistics provider of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022. It was a process which, thanks to VCUarts Qatar where learning to interpret a brief and create artwork based on specific requirements of a client was part of our PAPR curriculum we were familiar with. Jawaher Al Khuzaei, GWC's Marketing and Communication Director, further elaborated on the project. 'For this specific project, we wanted to incorporate the local and national character, while reflecting the intent and capabilities of our new GWC Regional Center at Ras Bufontas Free Zone. The result was this synergistic opportunity that presented itself when cooperating with the artists from the VCUarts Qatar community. Following the initial meetings, Yigit reached out to Awad and Aslem. Before beginning the paintings, the trio created the frame-mounted canvases meant for each artwork, from scratch — including procuring the best canvas material available locally from Souq Waqif, and then manipulating them onto purpose-built wooden frames. For Awad, whose artistic style inclines towards the abstract, 'the thrill lay in working with a team to capitalize on art's range of functional attributes and benefits. The Class of 2020 alumna has a point, given that the relevance of art in the workplace was highlighted at a seminar held at Oxford University's Saïd Business School, where panelists demonstrated how workers in an ‘enriched environment' could be up to 32 percent more productive than those in lean or functional environments. 'Having artwork in workspaces has a huge positive impact on one's mood, productivity and wellbeing, says Awad, who recently participated in Qatar Museum's Jedariart public art initiative.MENAFN03042021000063011010ID1101854211