CoroArt Our wide-ranging commitment to art and culture
Art at Coroplast The workplace as exhibition space
Driver of corporate culture...
Art in the workplace can promote well-being, inspire people, and encourage creative thinking. It supports a culture of creativity, openness, and diversity that promotes unconventional viewpoints, sees changes of perspective as enrichment, consciously looks at the bigger picture, and encourages lifelong learning.
We knew all of this long before the various studies on it. That’s why the promotion of art and culture on our company premises and in collaboration with the region is firmly embedded in our corporate culture. We have given this attitude and the associated commitment its own name: CoroArt.
...and a cause close to our heart
For us as a family-run company, art and culture are very important to us. We want to share this passion with our employees, customers, and partners.
Visitors to our headquarters in Wuppertal immediately notice that art dominates our corridors, offices, meeting rooms, and exterior areas. Paintings, drawings, photographs, installations, and sculptures by well-known and emerging artists can be found everywhere.
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Part of the sculpture group “The Angel and His Companion”
Stephan Balkenhol is one of the most important contemporary German sculptors. His wooden figures always balance between two extremes. On the one hand, they stand neutrally and calmly in the room; on the other, the roughly hewn wood makes them appear very expressive.
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Photograph “City on the Lake” by Thomas Wrede
Thomas Wrede (born 1963 in Iserlohn) is one of the most famous German photographers. The illusory worlds of his Real Landscapes series, which is based on miniature models, play with proportions – they confuse and fascinate observers in equal measure.
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Hedge #4 by Tony Cragg
The Hedges comprise a series of works made of steel by Tony Cragg (born 1949) who is regarded as one of the foremost sculptors of his generation. The title of the work is a tribute to the hedge-filled landscapes of southern England where Cragg spent part of his childhood.
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Oil painting “Carmen” by Alex Katz
Alex Katz shaped Pop Art from the beginning. His pictures are deliberately realized in a bold style. That means the painting can be seen very well even from works buildings further away. This portrait reminds some people of our CEO.
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Photographic work “Pregnancy Tea” by Stefanie Pürschler
The master student of Thomas Ruff at Kunstakademie Düsseldorf works to expand the photographic medium and looks for unusual image media in her series (carpet, cardboard, concrete) which force a new perception of the motif.
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Painting “Curtain” by Bernard Lokai
In his paintings, Bernard Lokai, a former student of Gerhard Richter at Kunstakademie Düsseldorf, builds on the tradition of post-war German Expressionism, updating and expanding it with his explosive and vibrant expressions of color.
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Sculpture group “Meeting I” by Wang Shugang
Wang Shugang is a Chinese contemporary artist who spent ten years in Germany’s Ruhr region and now lives in Beijing. His red, white, and bronze statues are regularly featured in international solo and group exhibitions.
Art in the work environment boosts well-being, inspires people, and encourages creative thinking. At Coroplast, we knew this long before the various studies on it. That’s why an artistic ambiance is now an integral part of our corporate culture – we call it CoroArt.
Art in the region We are actively committed to the Bergisches Land region
Our understanding of CoroArt does not end at the boundary of our company premises – it extends much further. We offer our employees and people in the region numerous opportunities to experience art and culture.
These include our cooperation with the renowned Von der Heydt Museum, exclusive art tours for our employees, promotion of ambitious projects like Transurban Residency, support for the long-established Wuppertaler Kurrende Boys’ Choir, and our own CoroArt Art Award, with which we support up-and-coming artists at the University of Wuppertal.
Von der Heydt Museum We sponsor the Von der Heydt Museum
We have been supporting the art scene in our region for more than ten years. In cooperation with the Von der Heydt Museum in Wuppertal, we support high-caliber exhibitions every year and invite our employees, art lovers, and representatives from the worlds of politics and business to exclusive guided tours with the artists and the museum’s director.
This offer has been enthusiastically accepted by many colleagues from all areas of the Group. Following the exhibition visits, we also offer participants the opportunity to interact and get to know each other better at a get-together.
Any employees who want to visit the exhibitions individually can get free entry for themselves and one accompanying person upon presentation of an employee ID card.
Promoted exhibitions Since 2007 we have promoted numerous exhibitions at the Von der Heydt Museum and Art Gallery
- Sven Drühl: Works 2001–2013
- Maike Freess: Of Blind Certainty
- Tony Cragg: Retrospective – Parts of the World
- Tobias Zielony: Photography and Video
- Thomas Wrede: Photography 1991–2018
- Oskar Schlemmer
- Hans-Christian Schink: Friendship Request No. 1
- Franziska Holstein: Friendship Request No. 2.
- Lothar Baumgarten: Lothar Baumgarten Land of the spotted eagle. Works from the collection Lothar Schirmer
CoroArt Art Award We support up-and-coming artists – the CoroArt Art Award
Our passion for art prompted us to launch the CoroArt Art Award in 2012, and we have awarded it every two years since then.
In collaboration with the School of Art and Design at the University of Wuppertal, we present the award to talented newcomers for outstanding creative works made using our products. Our aim is to give budding artists a creative challenge and a platform for their works, and promote them in general. We then purchase many of the works and exhibit them at our headquarters, thus letting our employees share in our passion for art.
In 2022, we presented the Art Award, worth a total of €3,000, for the seventh time, under the motto “Stability and Change”. As every year, the award winners were selected by a multi-member jury comprising, among others, our CEO Natalie Mekelburger, the director of the Von der Heydt Museum Dr. Roland Mönig, Prof. Katja Pfeiffer, and other representatives of the University of Wuppertal.
Wuppertaler Kurrende Boys’ Choir We support the acclaimed Wuppertaler Kurrende Boys’ Choir
We have supported the Wuppertaler Kurrende Boys’ Choir for many years. The choir, which was established 100 years ago, is one of the most preeminent cultural institutions in Germany. It works with numerous kindergartens and schools, providing important impetus for music education and cultural development. It thus undertakes unique educational work in the region, which we as a family-run, Wuppertal-based company are happy to support.
We purchase a quota of tickets every year. We then give these tickets for the Quempas concerts and other events in the run-up to Christmas to our employees and their families.
Other activities Medici Pin for the Coroplast Group
In recognition of its commitment to the arts, the Coroplast Group was presented with the prestigious Medici Pin business award in the category “Overall Corporate Concept” in 2016. The award is regularly given to companies and institutions from Düsseldorf and the region who are particularly enthusiastic about art and promote it at their locations. The presentation of the 2016 Medici Pin took place in the Lambertussaal in Düsseldorf. Our CEO, Natalie Mekelburger, and her sister and partner in the company, Constanze Krieger, accepted the award.
