Art at work
It doesn’t take long for visitors to the Raymond James headquarters in Saint Petersburg to feel as though they’ve arrived at an art gallery. Outside of Towers 3 and 4, a bronze statue of children playing (Tug of War by Sandy Proctor) sits adjacent to the sidewalk, not far from a sculpture of a man on a bench reading a newspaper (Wall St. Journal by Glenna Goodacre). And upon entering the towers, visitors encounter colorful glass sculptures by Duncan McClellan adorning the lobby. On any given floor of the buildings that compose the Saint Petersburg campus, art lines the walls.
Raymond James, after all, has never been a company with quintessential “office art.” In 1968, founder Bob James decorated the original office with art from his personal collection to add character and create a welcoming atmosphere. In the years since, Chairman Emeritus Tom James has taken that idea and run with it. Tom and his wife, Mary (pictured here), acquired more than 3,000 pieces of art, most displayed throughout the Saint Petersburg home office.
Tom’s interest in art began in his youth, when he would accompany his parents to art shows and observe his mother, who was a painter. Although he has no formal training in art appreciation, Tom was influenced by his parents’ tastes and has always instinctively known what he likes and what he doesn’t.
“When I went to those shows with my parents, I saw plenty of stuff that I wouldn’t hang on the wall. I guess I’ve always had an opinion,” says Tom.
In high school, Tom often visited an artist who lived down the street to watch him paint. And in his junior year at Harvard, Tom would take then-girlfriend Mary to galleries all over Massachusetts and Maine. “I wanted art that reminded me of Massachusetts and New England. Seascapes and landscapes mostly,” says Tom. “I looked for artists with promise who would improve over time.”
When he returned to Florida, Tom began to support young, local artists who caught his attention. He went to outdoor shows in Saint Petersburg and to early iterations of the Gasparilla Festival of the Arts, which the firm now sponsors. Tom’s commitment to supporting artists was total. When the home office was in downtown Saint Petersburg, he would put on art shows in the parking lot with no entry fee to the artists. “I was trying to help them sell more paintings, that’s all,” says Tom. As these shows gained popularity, with thousands of people filling up the parking lots over the weekend, Tom eventually partnered with Gasparilla. “I wanted to keep the support going but hand off the administration and overall production responsibility,” says Tom.
His tastes developed over the years to include Western and Southwestern art, which now compose half of the collection, and wildlife art, which represents one quarter. In 2018, the Jameses opened The James Museum of Western and Wildlife Art in Saint Petersburg to house many items from this part of the collection. But as Tom is quick to point out, he is not restricted to realism. “I’ve bought many works of modern art too. I really respect high-quality draftsmanship and painting ability.”
(Above) Selections from the collection: (L to R) Outfoxed by Bonnie Marris, Emerging Kachinas by Dan Namingha and Hearts of Conviction by Dave McGary. Marris can be found in T4/F6, Namingha is in the T3 Community Center and McGary in T3/F4.
Today the collection, known as the Tom and Mary James/ Raymond James Financial Art Collection, includes paintings, photographs, sculpture, pottery, glass, bronze, jewelry and fine art prints. Curator Emily Shrider and Assistant Curator Sarah Etzkorn oversee the collection. “We are stewards of the collection as well as ambassadors for it,” says Emily. They also manage the art tour program, which Tom opened to the public 20 years ago because he wanted the community to enjoy the art while also experiencing the company and its people. The tours are part of a longstanding company philosophy to be not only in Saint Petersburg but part of Saint Petersburg.
“We share the collection, and Tom and Mary’s story, with the community. Our guides are trained to tell the whole story behind the pieces,” says Emily, who also works with the Jameses directly on art acquisitions. For about 15 years, Tom and Mary were buying 50 to 100 pieces a year. More recently, the annual figure is around 25. Tom and Mary buy to please themselves, not to please the board of a museum or with an eye toward investment. They are “collectors in the true sense,” says Emily. “They acquire pieces that reach them in some way.”
Tom’s hope is that the art reaches associates in some way as well. From his perspective, art should do more than just hang on the walls, and can offer everyone who walks by it an experience.
About The Tom and Mary James / Raymond James Financial Art Collection
Most of the collection of more than 3,000 works of art, one of the largest private collections in Florida, has been generously shared by the Jameses. As Tom led his father’s company to become the firm it is today, he built on his belief that art should be present in our lives. And by prioritizing the works of living artists, Tom aims to support their success and their stories as they build on a continuing artistic tradition.
Learn more about the art collection and view featured works.