A California Hotel Books a Room for Art

Art Business News, June, 2001 by Amy Leibrock

The Durka Chang Gallery combats high rents by lodging art in a hotel lobby

At a time when high rents are making it more difficult for galleries to set up shop in city centers, the Durka Chang Gallery has found a way to get free exhibition space in a prime downtown San Francisco location. The gallery has struck a unique arrangement with Hotel Nikko San Francisco that's changing the definition of "hotel art."

Two years ago, Hotel Nikko, which is located in San Francisco's Union Square area, started looking for ways to update its image to distinguish it from other large hotels nearby. The hotel's minimalistic Asian atmosphere and floor-to-ceiling white marble walls set a tranquil mood but also looked cold to guests. Rather than invest in an expensive renovation, the Nikko decided to add artwork. "We wanted to bring art in on a rotating basis and provide a unique venue to showcase art," said Melissa Brown, Hotel Nikko's vice president of sales and marketing. "It would provide entertainment for our guests and hopefully put the hotel on the map as a destination for art."

Hotel officials started networking and found Mary Ellen Durka and Kimberly Chang. Both women represented artists and were active in the art community in a variety of ways but didn't have their own gallery space. The Nikko asked if they would like to display the artists they represented in the hotel. "I told them that my artists would of course like the exposure, but that they would also like to have an alternate gallery space," said Durka.

They decided to build a permanent exhibition area in the lobby in addition to displaying art throughout the hotel's public areas. All the pieces are for sale, and every six weeks they hold an opening in the exhibition space devoted to one artist. As a result, the hotel and its guests get to enjoy top contemporary art and Durka and Chang have a home for their group of Bay Area artists--the Durka Chang Gallery.

"The architecture lent itself beautifully to the art," said Durka. "It has really warmed up the hotel and made it much more interesting. People's reaction to the art on the whole is very, very good, whether they collect or whether they just want to sit in the space and be around it."

"We've gotten great feedback from our guests," said Brown. "It purposely looks like the hotel is showcasing art. It doesn't look like we're just using art to decorate the walls. There's a huge difference. It's striking to the guests."

The hotel's ambience changes as the art is rotated. On exhibition are canvases large and small, works on paper, glass and other sculpture from an impressive rooster of local artists, most of whom fall into the category of abstract expressionist and have exhibited at museums and galleries around the world.

With this arrangement, Durka Chang has the advantages of being a gallery that never doses and having the space to display work and hold events that smaller galleries couldn't. "We can do installations--we can do anything" said Durka. "It can just keep growing and growing just because we have all the space we need and all the people to help."

Durka and Chang have an existing client base, but being in the hotel exposes their art to a wider audience. "Now that the people that stay there are noticing that the art is for sale, we're getting a lot of inquisitions, and we just sold a piece to someone that was here for a convention," said Durka.

The hotel also serves as a showcase of the gallery's curatorial capabilities for its existing and potential corporate, interior design and architectural clients. "Upon visiting the hotel, these clients are confident in our abilities to curate, design and install art in a variety of scales, from private residences to large-scale, public areas," said Durka.

As the gallery/hotel collaboration develops, one of their goals is to support the arts in San Francisco. They are working on planning special art and charity events and artist lectures and also introducing media artists. A September show benefitting the Breast Cancer Emergency Fund with artist Dora Maar, one of Picasso's mistresses, is in the works, as is a show with artist Lynn Bianchi--who does tongue-in-cheek nudes about eating--to coincide with a food convention held in the city.

The 533-room Tokyo-based hotel sees many out of town guests, but management hopes the artwork will bring in more local art enthusiasts. "Our ultimate goal is to put the hotel on the map as a destination, not just a hotel," said Brown.

Durka credits the Hotel Nikko's support for making the collaboration a success. "Because of the grandeur of the hotel, there's a lot we can do with the art community, and it can be done a lot easier when you're not paying exorbitant rent for your space," said Durka. "It's a great symbiotic relationship." But she knows that the support must go both ways. "You really have to be good to the hotel because they're giving a lot," she said.

"They're providing us with art, and we' re providing them with the space, so it's a great deal all around," said Brown.