Sands Works to Preserve the Cultural Heritage of its Local Regions

One of Sands’ principal strategies for ensuring its regions remain great places to live, work and visit is helping preserve the unique cultural heritage and local assets and attractions that build quality of life for residents and attract visitors.

In Macao, Sands China is preserving the cultural heritage of the region by supporting and promoting an internationally influential arts and entertainment culture. Efforts include bringing a wide spectrum of enriching events to the city and nurturing the success of local artists.

In Singapore, Marina Bay Sands has made supporting the arts a permanent part of the property with the ArtScience Museum, which offers a variety of interactive installations, virtual reality experiences and curated films. The resort also promotes a number of cultural offerings to celebrate the vibrant arts community in Singapore, including support for programs by the Singapore Repertory Theatre and the Singapore Symphony Orchestra and presentation of the In Conversation With series, which features leaders in the arts, music, film and entertainment. As part of the 2022 series, Marina Bay Sands hosted a talk with the director and a producer behind the Disney and Pixar film Turning Red for more than 40 aspiring animators and filmmakers from Nanyang Polytechnic’s Animation and Visual Effects program and the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts Design and Media program.

A long-time partner of Marina Bay Sands is Art Outreach Singapore, which aims to increase art appreciation and support for local artists. Over the years, Marina Bay Sands has supported Art Outreach’s IMPART Art Prize and other programming as part of its efforts in preserving the cultural heritage of the region.

Seeing the potential Arts Outreach has for contributing to a high quality of life in Singapore, the resort deepened its relationship with the nonprofit when it joined the Sands Cares Accelerator, Sands’ signature capacity building program for rising community organizations. The three-year program helps nonprofits achieve greater community impact through a customized blend of strategic guidance, mentorship and financial investment aimed at nurturing a strategic area of development.

During its time in the Sands Cares Accelerator, Art Outreach worked to advance its HEARTH program, originally created as a temporary initiative during the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2020, Art Outreach repurposed its administrative offices into a community art space for local artists to exhibit and incubate work. The HEARTH program was so successful that Art Outreach is working to turn it into a flagship initiative through the Sands Cares Accelerator.

In 2022, HEARTH hosted 10 exhibitions supporting the work of 29 artists, with close to 20 more exhibitions planned in 2023. Art Outreach also launched HEARTHside Chats, a series of professional development talks for practitioners, with the inaugural edition featuring Cultural Medallion Recipient Milenko Prvački. Finally, Art Outreach was able to move into a new purpose-built gallery space in Gillman Barracks, doubling its presentation space for HEARTH showcases. Looking ahead, Art Outreach plans to organize more talks and introduce portfolio review options in 2023 to further increase its impact.

“Marina Bay Sands has been a strong partner of the arts community in Singapore, and its multi-faceted commitment to our organization has helped us achieve many goals,” said Mae Anderson, Chairman, Art Outreach. “Joining the Sands Cares Accelerator where we have worked more closely together is the culmination of our joint commitment to helping local artists thrive and ensuring Singaporeans can enjoy a rich cultural scene.”

To learn more about Sands’ work in preserving the cultural heritage of its regions, read the 2021 ESG Report: https://www.sands.com/content/uploads/2022/04/LVSC_ESG-Report-2021_spreads.pdf