Not only art's task—Narrating bridges between unusual experiences with art and organizational identity

SummaryThis contribution explores the factors that enable or impede identity-related organizational learning from artistic interventions by drawing on two cases in which such interventions offered opportunities for employees to engage with artists’ images of their organization. The analysis uses a dynamic identity model and a narrative approach to organizational learning from unusual experiences. The findings challenge the assumption that responsibility for success or failure lies primarily with the artist and show that two crucial factors are opportunities for employees to construct and share narratives about their experiences with art and the receptiveness of the organizational context for collective construction of narratives.