Corporate social responsibility in culture and art Diren Bulut Marketing Department, Faculty of Business Administration, Istanbul University, Istanbul, Turkey, and Ceren Bulut Yumrukaya Graphic Department, Faculty of Fine Arts, Dokuz Eylul University, Izmir, Turkey Abstract Purpose – The purpose of this study is to understand and distinguish the mainstream of corporate social responsibility (CSR) in culture and art in Turkey. It aims to examine all parties related to CSR in culture and art (corporations, artists, art institutes and art communities) and their expectations of CSR. It is also aimed to understand the relationship between government and art institutions, communities and organizations. Design/methodology/approach – To be able to understand the general tendency, applications and problems of CSR in culture and arts, 17 in-depth interviews were implemented with corporations, art institutes, communities and individual artists from different art fields. All interviews were digitally audio taped. All digital recordings were encoded and analyzed after the interviews and findings were grouped under four general topics. Findings – General environment, comments and problems are defined in situation analyses. Government relations and corporation relations are separately evaluated. Future prospects, expectations and projects are included in the last headline. Government and corporations are the main supporters for art and art organizations but there is a very serious risk for art organizations to lose their corporate funds to environmental and educational CSR projects and sport sponsorships. Originality/value – This study shows the gap of needed and existing funding and support in culture and art field in Turkey. There is a great potential in upcoming period for cultural investment in Turkey, which may produce both social welfare and corporate image increase. Turkish culture and art environment should be monitored for European Capital of Culture in 2010 organization. Keywords Corporate social responsibility, Culture, Arts, Turkey Paper type Research paper Introduction Culture and art are living, developing and changing live organisms of the society. They reflect anything that they catch. That is why survival of culture and arts means also the survival of the societies. The need for supporting culture and arts in today’s fast consumption economic environment becomes a must for societies since the change is faster than it is observed. Supporting culture and arts could take different forms in which society willingly or unwillingly participate. But managing these supports and offering a sustainable environment for arts, could return to the society more efficiently. That is the reason why major players of economy and society voluntarily interfere this field. In this study, it is aimed to understand culture and art environment in Turkey and their relationship with corporations in the context of corporate social responsibility (CSR). The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at www.emeraldinsight.com/1477-7835.htm CSR in culture and art 311 Received 13 November 2008 Revised 4 December 2008 Accepted 10 January 2009 Management of Environmental Quality: An International Journal Vol. 20 No. 3, 2009 pp. 311-320 q Emerald Group Publishing Limited 1477-7835 DOI 10.1108/14777830910950702