Tell your hotel's story through artwork

What originally inspired you to start Indiewalls, and what gap did you see in the way hotels approached art and design at the time?

The original idea was actually different. It started as a way to sell artwork off the walls of cafes and restaurants through an app. But the underlying problem was that great art from independent artists is often only sought out by people already plugged into the art world. It is not a large part of most people’s everyday lives, so we pivoted.

Now we work with hotels, corporations, multifamily buildings and medical facilities to bring story-driven, bespoke work from artists around the world into the places where people live, work and travel. We still focus on great art from independent artists. That’s really the heart of it.

In your experience, what separates hotels that use art in a truly meaningful way from those that treat it as more of an afterthought or decorative layer?

Hotels spend anywhere from high six figures to low seven figures telling the story of their property through design and architecture. If they don’t then carry that story through to the artwork, that’s a big missed opportunity.

Art is the most literal storytelling tool available to a property. Take a building that used to be a paper mill. You could commission work made from paper, write about why it matters historically and connect with artists whose own backgrounds tie back to that place. The story becomes tangible. Guests feel it. The hotels that get it right think about art as part of the narrative from the beginning, not as a finishing touch. They use it to give guests a genuine sense of place, which is ultimately what great hospitality is about.

Are there common misconceptions hoteliers have about working with artists or incorporating original artwork into a hospitality project?

Sometimes we talk to someone who assumes that working with an independent artist means less flexibility, like the artist won’t want to collaborate or tailor their work to fit the property’s story. In actuality, it’s the opposite. Artists get genuinely excited about the idea of melding their practice with the narrative of a specific place.

Some people might default to more conventional sources, thinking they’ll be easier to control, but independent artists are often very open to the idea of the property informing their creative process.

What are some of the biggest mistakes or missed opportunities you see hotels make when trying to create a strong artistic identity, and how can those pitfalls be avoided?

The biggest mistake is not building an art budget from the start. If it gets left to the end and funded with whatever is left over, that’s usually not enough to do it right.

A hotel art program can range anywhere from $100,000 to a million dollars, but you can still do something truly impactful in the $200,000 range. The problem is that if you don’t allocate those resources from the beginning, that money gets absorbed elsewhere. When a project runs over budget, no one is going back to find another $200,000 for artwork at the end.

Artwork is one of the first things people feel when they walk into a space. Not doing it right isn’t just a budget issue; it’s a missed opportunity to make a lasting impression.

How can independent hotels use art and creative partnerships to create a more memorable sense of place without feeling overly curated or inauthentic?

Different hotels want art to do different things for them. I think defining what “memorable” means to a property has a lot to do with the overall design narrative of that space. Some want the art to be a topic of conversation the moment you walk in, so it’s louder and more obvious. Others want it to work more with the finishes and aesthetic already there, almost becoming part of the design itself.

If you don't want it to feel too obvious, you'll want the artwork to work more with the finishes and aesthetic already present in the design. So if there's a lot of wood and soft stone, you might look for artwork that aligns with that, like beautiful and elegant wood or stone sculptures. It really just comes down to how loud you want the artwork to be in the space, and that doesn't make it cheaper or more expensive. Both approaches are completely valid, and neither is more or less authentic. It's just about how it's curated. 

Anything else you'd like to share?

When you think about the brands that have been really successful recently, the ones that have been acquired by larger companies or received large investments because of their uniqueness—brands like Graduate Hotels, citizenM, and Trailborn. All of those properties had a major focus on artwork, and that correlation is very telling. They wanted to make their brand stand out, to feel different and interesting and to engage the public. A big part of doing that was creating a really well-curated, story-driven art program. If you're trying to create a new brand, artwork should be a primary factor in how you think about differentiating that brand from the beginning.

(Image courtesy of Indiewalls)