We started our journey to become a B-Corp certified business back in 2021. While Sydney entered lockdown we really began to think about what was important to us as a business and what kind of change we wanted to make in the world. How could we identify, drive and grow our support for artists and add greater value to the community through place-centric public art and activations? It began by doing some research and figuring out the real pain points in the arts community and recognising the part we had to play in helping recover and ever building the Australian cultural sector.

That was when we decided to apply for our B- Corp Certification. But what exactly does that mean? In this article, we shed light on the importance of the B - Corp, why it matters, the ups and downs of our journey and how you can become involved in the movement.

So what is a B Corporation certification?

B-corporation certification signifies a business that has been intentional in its strategy, practice and model to be inclusive, sustainable and responsive to its social and environmental impact.

Why did we decide to start the journey to certification?

We knew the work we are doing is having a positive impact in the arts - so we wanted to help solidify our impact and encourage others to see the positive impact art has on society. So we joined the B Corporation movement to track our current social impact work and expand our future capacity as an arts business. This allows us to tap into the transformative qualities of art to enliven public spaces with creativity, to support wellbeing and social cohesion.

How did we find the certification process?

The journey to become a B- Corp is not easy, particularly as a small business and one of the few in the world that specialises in arts and culture. We took a deep dive into our processes, our core values and the small ways we could make changes towards becoming a more sustainable organisation. From changing to a more ethical banking service to encouraging employees to use public transport by developing an Environmental Policy, the certification covers your Governance, policies and processes to be aligned with sustainability goals.

What are we doing as a B Corporation?

At Art Pharmacy, our mission is to support artists and deliver public art. As a B Corp, we aligned this mission with our social responsibility strategy developing an impact business model that will inform our 2022-2025 Impact Action Plan. This is designed to track our projects to understand and grow our impact on the cultural economy, artist employment and extending community.

What is planned for the future?

Our plan is to continually grow our art projects in order to reach more people and support even more Australian artists. Follow our sustainability journey through our yearly impact reports and soon to be released Impact Action Plan.

We see arts and culture as helping lead the way in creating a more sustainable world from shedding light on important issues, to creating vibrant communities. Arts have the potential to help generate real positive change in our world.