NEWH - Winter 2011 - (Page 32)

product know how art smart art By Kelly Hushin A decade of difference in crafting a memorable look Clockwise from top left: “Energy” from Jesse Kalisher Gallery, made for a property in New York’s Times Square; the massive PI Fine Art showroom in Toronto; and a terrace suite at the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, designed by David Rockwell with artwork by Terry Eaton. FORTUNATELY, SPECIFYING HOTEL ART IS A DIFFERENT JOB than it was as recently as 10 years ago. More designers today are being afforded the opportunity to collaborate on an art plan instead of indifferently choosing a poster from a binder. “Ten years ago if you were doing a hotel you had to put in poster art,” explains Jesse Kalisher, of Carrboro, North Carolina-based Jesse Kalisher Gallery. In the “old days,” (aka 10 years ago) owners would pay an art consultant to find an artist whose work could be licensed. The consultant would then have to pay someone to publish the art and then pay still a third party to frame it. According to Kalisher, about eight years ago a revolution in digital printing changed the game for hospitality art and upended this poster art formula. “The cost to publish something has gone way, way down,” he says. “It affords several opportunities. One is I can do small production runs. It also means those images can be manipulated and tweaked digitally, customized.” But like anything else, when costs go down in one area, spend doesn’t necessarily follow suit. It becomes easier to justify a similar or equal spend—more bang for your buck, as the saying goes. “There’s definitely more money being spent on artwork today, unless you’re referring to something very small or efficiency units,” said Maggie Roncato, an art consultant with PI Fine Art (formerly known as Posters International). The re-branding of PI, which took place about four years ago, was in part due to a shift in the customer mindset, and reflective of a potential growth area for the company as it realized the need to expand and market additional offerings. “Posters > 32 winter 2011 www.newh.org tel 800.593.NEWH http://www.newh.org

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of NEWH - Winter 2011

NEWH - Winter 2011
Contents
NEWH and chapter updates
Who’s Who
Sustainability: Point of View
Interview: Lisa Homan
Interview: Helen Reed
Conference
Cover Story
Have You Seen?
Product Know How
On the Scene
Project: Padre Hotel
Project: Hyatt Regency Rochester
Partner Profiles
Save the Date
New Members
Ad Index

NEWH - Winter 2011