Art Market Monitor

Global Coverage ~ Unique Analysis

  • AMMpro
  • AMM Fantasy Collecting Game
  • Podcast
  • Contact Us

How to Make a Hotel Distinctive? Confront Your Guests with Art

March 31, 2016 by Marion Maneker

laura-lee-brown-steve-wilson

Conde Nast Traveler interviewed Steve Wilson, co-founder of the 21c Hotel chain that turns hotels in smaller cities into art venues:

How did you come up with the 21c concept?

Steve Wilson: The Guggenheim Bilbao was quite an inspiration—seeing how art could transform a community. When we decided to do the first hotel, we hired Deborah Berke because she understood we wanted to design for art. The lobby looks like a museum; the lighting and walls are designed to change the personality of the room. A lot of people didn’t think it was going to work in Louisville. They thought contemporary art wasn’t necessarily popular [there]. I joke sometimes that it’s easier to break the rules when you don’t know what the rules are. We didn’t know how to run a hotel or a museum, but we somehow ended up mashing those two worlds together. It worked.

In a way, there’s no escape from the art in your hotels.

SW: That’s right; you got it…. I like when people go to 21c to spend the night, have dinner, or hold a meeting. They’re always confronted with something unexpected. Sometimes they don’t like it—a lot of our work is unsettling—but they often do.

Move Over, Ace Hotels: 21c Is The New Artsy ‘It’ Spot  (Condé Nast Traveler)

More from Art Market Monitor

  • Art News Site Minimizes Art Commerce SitesArt News Site Minimizes Art Commerce Sites
  • Overlooked and UndervaluedOverlooked and Undervalued
  • The Other Kind of DistributedThe Other Kind of Distributed
  • Hanky Panky in the Indian Art MarketHanky Panky in the Indian Art Market
  • Dealer v. Dealer in NY & LondonDealer v. Dealer in NY & London
  • Top Ten Gerhard Richter PricesTop Ten Gerhard Richter Prices

Filed Under: General

About Marion Maneker

LiveArt

Want to get Art Market Monitor‘s posts sent to you in our email? Sign up below by clicking on the Subscribe button.

  • About Us/ Contact
  • Podcast
  • AMMpro
  • Newsletter
  • FAQ

twitterfacebooksoundcloud
Privacy Policy
Terms & Conditions
California Privacy Rights
Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Advertise on Art Market Monitor
 

Loading Comments...