H O T E L A N D M U S E U M
What are you most proud of ?
What is your main ambi t ion? Is i t to change the way we exper ience contemporar y ar t ? To make i t more accessible? To propose a whole new exper ience in hospi tal i ty ? A. G. S.: We aim at adopting the best practices of conventional museums without obeying all the rules. As of 2019, we have 80,000 sq feet of exhibition space. It is a unique multivenue project that has to be constantly questioned and reinvented. It has grown in a rather organic manner. It is an entirely new model that has reached the highest standards of quality. What drives us is a sense of innovation in the experience. In a recent photography- focused exhibition (until March 2020 at 21c Louisville) "Labor and Materials," we explored how the realities of work have changed with the age of automation and depersonalized global commerce, sometimes with brutal consequences for workers’ lives—and it was quite logically that the showwent up first at the Bentonville, Arkansas, location—the town that’s also home to theWalmart headquarters. On the other hand a show at 21c Cincinnati focused on how one of the city’s local artists views the larger world. We aim at intricating local and global problematics in the most approachable manner.
L. L. B. &S.W.: It’s our mission provide a space for important conversations. We’re thrilled that our properties and the works exhibited in each location provoke thought and conversation, sometimes allowing our employees and guests to explore and confront what has been unspeakable or forbidden in our own lives. Artists are the mirrors that encourage us to focus on the everyday, as well as how we make our way forward, be it celebratory or difficult. Art transforms us—it fosters real connection, it gives the viewer the freedom to question conventional thinking, it’s inclusive. For Laura Lee and I, art is life! We hope that the opportunity to visit us and live within this environment provides an indelible experience that lives long beyond our guests’ travels.
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“IT’S OUR MISSION PROVIDE A SPACE FOR IMPORTANT CONVERSATIONS.”
21c MUSEUM HOTEL LOUISVILLE
21c MUSEUM HOTEL OKLAHOMA CITY
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