Financial Institutions Supporting the Arts

Julio M. Herrera Velutini has been involved in the Venezuelan and Puerto Rican banking industry for more than 20 years. Outside of his work as the chairman of the board of an international bank, Julio Herrera Velutini works to promote the arts.

A society with a healthy arts and culture sector requires financing to succeed. Major public arts institutions such as the British Museum and the National Portrait Gallery often partner with financial institutions for support, and financial institutions such as Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Goldman Sachs have a long history of supporting arts and culture.

In 2015, Bank of America Merrill Lynch partnered with several other institutions to set up the Arts Impact Fund, an initiative in England that supports the social impact of arts organizations. Triodos Bank is another major international institution with projects all over the world financing artists and cultural organizations.

Though some art and artists are political in nature and may take issue with the role of major financial institutions in our society, many of these institutions make supporting the arts a part of their mission, recognizing the significance of a rich cultural history.