How hotels are reimagining themselves as modern art galleries and community hubs.
Room 6 at Ode Hotel displaying a wraparound mural creating a lush tropical environment. (Artist): ... More Gabriella Lo Curtiss Randolph
The sterile hotel art of yesteryear — generic landscapes mass-produced for anonymity — is being replaced by vibrant cultural ecosystems. Around the world, a new breed of hospitality leaders is transforming lobbies, guest rooms, and even rooftops into dynamic platforms for contemporary art, democratizing access and forging unprecedented artist-community-corporate synergies. Across the hospitality industry, this seismic shift means hotels are no longer merely hanging mass-produced reproductions over beds; they’re embedding art curation into their operational core. From boutique properties to resort giants, visionary leaders are proving that hospitality and high-impact art aren’t just compatible – they’re mutually transformative.
Gallery attendants and guests in front of an artwork at the 21c Museum-Durham opening for "The ... More Intuitionist" curated by Charles Moore. (Artist): Xavier Daniels Forrest Mason Media
Elevating The Hotel Experience With Inclusive Culture
In the lobby of a 21c Museum Hotel, guests might sip cocktails beneath a monumental textile by artist Xenobia Bailey, while locals gather for a free screening of María Magdalena Campos-Pons’ film celebrating women. Down the hall, a conference attendee in the Durham, NC location pauses mid-email. They are transfixed by the current exhibition “The Intuitionist”, Natia Lemay and Xavier Daniel’s exploration of identity and lived experience that challenges preconceived notions of self and others. This isn’t a traditional gallery – it’s a functioning hotel where art isn’t décor, but the DNA.
A visitor to 21c Museum-Durham taking in artwork in the gallery. Artist: Natia Lemay Forrest Mason Media
For Alice Gray Stites, Chief Curator of 21c Museum Hotels, the mission is radical accessibility. "We strive to remove barriers — the real ones, like a ticket, elitism, and the velvet ropes that keep people out of museums," she states. Founded in Louisville in 2006 with seven locations across the U.S., 21c operates nearly 80,000 square feet of exhibition space entirely free to the public. Their model flips the script – they are "21c Museum Hotel," emphasizing the museum first. As a public museum and a hotel, their model flips traditional hospitality. Here, art isn’t just decor, it's the core DNA of their properties. Exhibitions like “The Intuitionist” — curated by author, curator, and art critic Charles Moore and inspired by Colson Whitehead’s novel — occupy prime real estate alongside check-in desks, proving that thought-provoking art and commerce can coexist.
MORE FOR YOU
"Artists like their work to be seen," says Stites, matter-of-factly countering skeptics who question serving cocktails near installations. Foot traffic is the point: business travelers, families, and curious locals encounter art without intimidation. Partnerships with institutions like Artadia further cement this ethos, providing grants to local artists in cities like St. Louis.
Artworks at 21c Durham. (Artists) L to R: Kara Walker, Lina Puerta. Forrest Mason Media
Stites’ strategy hinges on radical accessibility and hyper-local responsiveness. Each property features "Elevate at 21c" – vitrines on guest floors showcasing emerging local artists, rotated quarterly. In Bentonville, Arkansas, lounges become pop-up galleries for regional creators; in Cincinnati, alleyways host installations. When artist Patty Carroll exhibited in Kansas City, 21c commissioned her immersive "Panther Room" suite, demonstrating deep investment beyond display.
"The constraints of not being a nonprofit force creativity," Stites notes. For example, when shipping costs threatened the current exhibition, curated by Moore and featuring Lemay and Daniels’ work, Stites collaborated with the artists’ galleries – leveraging relationships forged over years. This agility extends to programming: film screenings curated with local partners, poetry nights responding to exhibitions, and talks amplifying community voices. The result? Foot traffic from curious travelers, locals, and even those whose "travel agent booked them a room"–all engaging with challenging contemporary art in an unintimidating space.
Original artworks on the wall at Café Boulud dining room at Rosewood, Baha Mar. Rosewood, Baha Mar
Resort as Ecosystem: Building Creative Economies in the Bahamas
At Baha Mar, the sprawling 1,000-acre luxury resort in Nassau, Bahamas, John Cox doesn’t just curate art – he engineers an entire cultural economy. As Executive Director of Arts and Culture, Cox oversees a department that functions as both curator, incubator, and industry catalyst. The artist and curator engineered Baha Mar Resort’s art program from crisis. After its original developer collapsed in 2015, Cox convinced the new owners to retain his vision: Bahamian art as the resort’s "paramount" identity. Today, 2,400 rooms across Grand Hyatt, SLS, and Rosewood properties showcase everything from 92-year-old straw plaiters to minimalist installations.
Attendees admiring art at the FUZE Caribbean Art Fair 2024 in Nassau, The Bahamas. (Artist): ... More Antonius Roberts
"Corporate spaces must expand their understanding of currency," Cox argues. "Art isn’t a veneer here; it’s infrastructure." Baha Mar’s “Fair Wind” exhibition — an over 150-year survey of Bahamian art — anchors the convention center, helping to anchor the resort’s cultural narrative. Partnerships with local collectors weave domestic narratives into VIP lounges and spas. It’s crucial that Cox’s team commissions constantly: murals for superstar chef Marcus Samuelsson’s Marcus Restaurant, bespoke takeaways for corporate clients – when BMW requested 500 culturally authentic takeaway bags for a conference, local artisans scaled production, which meant hiring assistants and rethinking capacity – and the the 2025 Bahamas Culinary & Arts Festival. "We’re formulating an ecosystem that sustains needs," Cox explains.
A school tour with gallerist Dr. Myrtis Bedolla from Gallerie Myrtis, at FUZE Caribbean Art Fair ... More 2024 in Nassau, The Bahamas.
Now in its third year, FUSE Art Fair doesn’t just make space for Bahamian artists, but for artists from across the diaspora, further cementing its role as a regional hub. "We’re building an industry," Cox says. When artists scale up operations to meet demand, hiring assistants and investing in capacity, that makes for a truly self-sustaining creative economy. “By exposing the complexities of everyday life for locals to a broader audience, we can demystify stereotypes,” Cox adds. At Baha Mar, success is measured beyond sales. Guest experience and community engagement are core KPIs. As such, spaces are constantly reimagined. “As long as people keep coming back, we’ll always need more and different Bahamian art," Cox says. “Which in turn creates recurring revenue streams for Bahamian artists.
The exterior of Ode Hotel on dusk includes a mural by a local artist. (Artist): Lauren A. Pirie Curtiss Randolph
This Boutique Hotel Is A Love Letter to Family and Community
In Toronto’s hip and vibrant Dundas West neighborhood, the 10-room Ode Hotel embodies a different ethos: intimacy as radical hospitality. Co-founded by Tiffany Ramsubick and her siblings, Ode is a family manifesto. Each room is a collaboration with a local BIPOC artist, which as a Black-owned boutique hotel, was of particular interest for the hoteliers. Site-specific work is integrated into the design, with furniture handmade locally. "We designed around the art," Ramsubick explains, which often draws bookings from global travelers seeking Instagram-worthy shots. Ramsubick’s motivation stemmed from frustration. "I was sick of hotels with terrible art," she states, weaponizing her frustration with "beige drab landscapes" in chain hotels. Ode proves that even micro-properties can wield cultural influence. According to Ramsubick, half their guests book specifically for the art; for others, it’s a revelation.
The Black and Yellow room at Ode Hotel. (Artist): Destinie Adélakun Kayla Rocca
But Ode’s impact extends beyond aesthetics. "It’s an ode to our Trinidadian roots and this community," says of the hotel’s name. "We poured so much love into this," Ramsubick shares. The Green Room features an entire hand-painted mural by a Toronto artist who worked onsite for a month. Furniture is locally crafted, and guests are actively steered towards neighboring galleries and restaurants. Art isn’t just displayed; it catalyzes community. Their "Summer Art Club" hosts workshops like collage sessions with local artists on the rooftop, while talks connect artists with audiences. Partnerships with neighborhood businesses also funnel guests into the area’s indie economy. "People feel the love here," Ramsubick says, which extends from guests to family. Their commitment to collaboration includes family therapy to navigate the pressures of blending business and kinship, and is a testament to the deeply personal stake in their cultural vision.
The Red room at Ode Hotel (Artist): Elise Troister
Why The Model Works
Hotels are becoming cultural stakeholders in emerging local and international art markets, as well as partners to local businesses and community initiatives. By opening their doors to the public in ways that challenge academic or elitist barriers to entry, these hotels prove that spaces designed to offer rest and commerce, can also provide community and provoke thought. In an age of standardized luxury, art-infused hotels prove culture isn’t an amenity; it’s the magnet.
A leaf printing workshop for locals organized by The Current Gallery & Art Center at Baha Mar for ... More Autism Month. The Current Gallery & Art Center
Cox notes, "People will say ‘That’s the place with the art fair,’ and they sleep in our hotels and eat in our restaurants." At Baha Mar, groups like Bahamian telecommunications provider BTC Telecom choose the resort explicitly for gallery breakout spaces. Ramsubick concurs. "Art is our differentiator," she states, noting that Ode’s direct bookings surge when guests seek specific artist rooms. While for Stites, success lies in unexpected encounters. "People didn’t know they wanted this—until they experienced it," she adds, validating Charles Moore's final point on the subject. "The best hospitality experiences don’t just house you—they immerse you in a place’s soul, and art is the fastest route there."