Law firms aren’t usually known for collecting art, let alone collaborating with postgraduate artists. Yet at Pinsent Masons, creativity has been quietly shaping the firm for years lining office walls and making workspaces more human and engaging. What began as an appreciation for art has evolved into something more ambitious: a multi-year partnership with Central Saint Martins that brings lawyers and artists into conversation.
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Pinsent Masons x CSM prize exhibition at Pinsent Masons HQ
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Pinsent Masons x CSM prize exhibition at Pinsent Masons HQ
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Pinsent Masons x CSM prize exhibition at Pinsent Masons HQ
Bridging the gap between education and professional practice
According to Kevin Boa, Partner at the firm, art has always played a meaningful role in shaping the organisation’s identity. Over the past decade, Pinsent Masons has carefully built an art collection across its offices, not as decoration but as a reflection of its values.
“Post pandemic, art makes being in the office more enjoyable, interesting, sometimes challenging. We've spent the last 10 years carefully acquiring art, particularly for our working floors and we'd reached a point where we'd filled a lot of walls with art and we were thinking, ‘what’s next?,’ ‘how can we engage with the artistic community in a way that might also help us to support aspiring artists?’.”
Why Central Saint Martins?
What stood out most to Pinsent Masons when engaging with CSM postgraduate work was not just technical excellence, but intellectual depth. Boa highlights the way students across disciplines tackle complex global issues including identity, sustainability, conflict and technology.
“I mean, when we talk about innovation, it's not very easy to see it through the lens of being a lawyer but it's something that everybody in our firm needs to think about. Especially in this world where we are in right now: navigating technological change.”
CSM helps us to see things; new perspectives, new voices, new ways of thinking. And I think it helps us hopefully to stay grounded and curious. That's the kind of firm we want to be. We want to be curious and connected with the wider world.
Pinsent Masons x CSM Prize
A key aim of the Pinsent Masons x CSM Prize is to support artists as they transition from education into professional practice. Boa acknowledges that leaving university can mean losing access to resources, audiences and community. Initiatives like this prize help bridge that gap by offering visibility, validation and connection to the wider business world.
Central to the partnership is a commitment to accessibility, particularly through the Insights Bursary, which supports students who might otherwise be unable to study at CSM. For Pinsent Masons, this reflects a broader responsibility to support inclusion and invest in emerging talent beyond its own industry.
Looking ahead
While innovation is not always easy to visualise in a legal context, it is increasingly essential as organisations navigate technological and social change. For Pinsent Masons, CSM offers new perspectives and ways of thinking that help the firm stay curious, connected and forward-looking.
“I think it is really the possibility of creative cross-pollination between our people and the CSM graduates that excites me. I think there's something quite powerful about bringing the creative talent at CSM and professional services together. These two don't ordinarily connect.”
Bringing creative education and professional services together, Boa argues, creates opportunities for insight and innovation that would not exist if these worlds remained separate.