Conde Nast Traveler raves about Denver's new Art Hotel

Condé Nast Traveler said The Art Hotel in the Golden Triangle "could double as a museum."

Excerpt:

"A lot of people think the way I selected the work was pretty arbitrary, like, 'Oh, she liked that so she went and got that.' But in fact, many of the pieces actually have a function," says the hotel's curator Dianne Vanderlip, who previously served as the curator of the Denver Art Museum. "Every piece was predicated by a desire to say something about the specialness of Colorado and the specialness of the hotel." Light is a running theme throughout the space, with its massive floor-to-ceiling windows showing off the picturesque natural Denver light.

Vanderlip and her team have spent the past few years acquiring and commissioning contemporary works by more than 40 artists; additionally, they commissioned several original works, including Phi Tesserae, a painting by Clark Richert that now lives on the fifth floor. There's even more in storage that didn't get displayed: the hotel had Warhols they didn't even end up using. Considering her art museum background, Vanderlip wants to make sure people approach the hotel differently. "It's not a museum," she says. "I am not encouraging anyone to pet the horse sculpture, but you can, and you aren't going to be reprimanded like you might be in a museum. This place should be comfortable, like it's their living room."

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