NEWH - Summer 2019 - 62

COVER STORY

The Art of Art
Artline Group progresses with the ever-changing industry
By Alia Akkam
Photography by PWP Studio

I

n the 1970s, on Long Island, New York, a 20-something
Danny Potente discovered he had a knack for sales, first
hawking Amway pots and pans, then 16-by-20-inch artwork.
"I ran around like a gazelle with those pictures," he remembers.
Some two months later the competitive Potente (he was a
wrestler and diver in school) convinced a colleague that they
could be more successful on their own, and Potente organically
eased into the entrepreneurial life, acquiring "the best possible
education on the streets."
By 1981, Potente's now-solo, Hicksville, New York-based
business had evolved into the thriving Artline Wholesaler, its
services sought out in particular by psychiatric centers eager to
brighten stark clinical spaces with fiberboard art. Soon, Potente
was traversing the country with thick binders of selections
flaunting different frames, matting, and price structures, building
a vast portfolio of healthcare and government clients.

62

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When Puneet Bhasin, a local high school student in the
math club, saw an ad in the PennySaver for a job at Artline he
was intrigued, and Potente was impressed with the precocious
student. "He listened to me on the phone and learned little by
little," says Potente. "Eventually people didn't know if it was me or
Puneet talking to them."
Bhasin, who now serves as president of the rebranded Artline
Group (Potente is CFO) grew with the company, helping identify
a new direction for Artline amid a shifting economic environment.
"We were used to the fax machines going on and on with orders,
but in the mid-1990s state governments started reducing the
amount of psychiatric hospitals and we saw it was no longer a
profitable market. Artwork was not a priority back then, so we
were losing our main stream of business," Bhasin explains.
Instead of fretting, Potente and a fresh-out-of-college Bhasin
looked to the expanding hospitality industry and in 1999 partook
in their first tradeshow, the Asian American Hotel Owners



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NEWH - Summer 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of NEWH - Summer 2019

NEWH - Summer 2019
Table of Contents
Guest Perspective
Who’s Who
News
Conference Roundup
Have You Seen?
Scholarships
Interview
Sustainability
Premium Business Members
Q&A: Anne Hiter
Q&A: Matt Deshantz
Q&A: Michelle Purcell
On the Cover
PROJECT: The Blake Hotel
PROJECT: Cultura
PROJECT: Marriott Irvine Spectrum
Chapter Highlights
Save the Date
New Members
Partner Profiles
Ad Index
NEWH - Summer 2019 - NEWH - Summer 2019
NEWH - Summer 2019 - Cover2
NEWH - Summer 2019 - Table of Contents
NEWH - Summer 2019 - Guest Perspective
NEWH - Summer 2019 - 5
NEWH - Summer 2019 - Who’s Who
NEWH - Summer 2019 - 7
NEWH - Summer 2019 - 8
NEWH - Summer 2019 - 9
NEWH - Summer 2019 - 10
NEWH - Summer 2019 - 11
NEWH - Summer 2019 - 12
NEWH - Summer 2019 - 13
NEWH - Summer 2019 - 14
NEWH - Summer 2019 - 15
NEWH - Summer 2019 - 16
NEWH - Summer 2019 - 17
NEWH - Summer 2019 - 18
NEWH - Summer 2019 - 19
NEWH - Summer 2019 - News
NEWH - Summer 2019 - 21
NEWH - Summer 2019 - Conference Roundup
NEWH - Summer 2019 - 23
NEWH - Summer 2019 - 24
NEWH - Summer 2019 - 25
NEWH - Summer 2019 - 26
NEWH - Summer 2019 - 27
NEWH - Summer 2019 - Have You Seen?
NEWH - Summer 2019 - 29
NEWH - Summer 2019 - 30
NEWH - Summer 2019 - 31
NEWH - Summer 2019 - 32
NEWH - Summer 2019 - 33
NEWH - Summer 2019 - 34
NEWH - Summer 2019 - 35
NEWH - Summer 2019 - Scholarships
NEWH - Summer 2019 - 37
NEWH - Summer 2019 - 38
NEWH - Summer 2019 - 39
NEWH - Summer 2019 - Interview
NEWH - Summer 2019 - 41
NEWH - Summer 2019 - Sustainability
NEWH - Summer 2019 - 43
NEWH - Summer 2019 - Premium Business Members
NEWH - Summer 2019 - 45
NEWH - Summer 2019 - 46
NEWH - Summer 2019 - 47
NEWH - Summer 2019 - 48
NEWH - Summer 2019 - 49
NEWH - Summer 2019 - 50
NEWH - Summer 2019 - 51
NEWH - Summer 2019 - 52
NEWH - Summer 2019 - 53
NEWH - Summer 2019 - 54
NEWH - Summer 2019 - 55
NEWH - Summer 2019 - Q&A: Anne Hiter
NEWH - Summer 2019 - 57
NEWH - Summer 2019 - Q&A: Matt Deshantz
NEWH - Summer 2019 - 59
NEWH - Summer 2019 - Q&A: Michelle Purcell
NEWH - Summer 2019 - 61
NEWH - Summer 2019 - On the Cover
NEWH - Summer 2019 - 63
NEWH - Summer 2019 - PROJECT: The Blake Hotel
NEWH - Summer 2019 - 65
NEWH - Summer 2019 - 66
NEWH - Summer 2019 - 67
NEWH - Summer 2019 - 68
NEWH - Summer 2019 - 69
NEWH - Summer 2019 - PROJECT: Cultura
NEWH - Summer 2019 - 71
NEWH - Summer 2019 - 72
NEWH - Summer 2019 - 73
NEWH - Summer 2019 - 74
NEWH - Summer 2019 - 75
NEWH - Summer 2019 - PROJECT: Marriott Irvine Spectrum
NEWH - Summer 2019 - 77
NEWH - Summer 2019 - 78
NEWH - Summer 2019 - 79
NEWH - Summer 2019 - Chapter Highlights
NEWH - Summer 2019 - 81
NEWH - Summer 2019 - 82
NEWH - Summer 2019 - 83
NEWH - Summer 2019 - 84
NEWH - Summer 2019 - 85
NEWH - Summer 2019 - 86
NEWH - Summer 2019 - 87
NEWH - Summer 2019 - 88
NEWH - Summer 2019 - 89
NEWH - Summer 2019 - Save the Date
NEWH - Summer 2019 - 91
NEWH - Summer 2019 - New Members
NEWH - Summer 2019 - 93
NEWH - Summer 2019 - 94
NEWH - Summer 2019 - 95
NEWH - Summer 2019 - 96
NEWH - Summer 2019 - 97
NEWH - Summer 2019 - 98
NEWH - Summer 2019 - 99
NEWH - Summer 2019 - 100
NEWH - Summer 2019 - 101
NEWH - Summer 2019 - 102
NEWH - Summer 2019 - 103
NEWH - Summer 2019 - Partner Profiles
NEWH - Summer 2019 - 105
NEWH - Summer 2019 - Ad Index
NEWH - Summer 2019 - Cover3
NEWH - Summer 2019 - Cover4
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