ART hotel Denver. DUR summer 2015.

Arguably the most eye catching aspect of Denver’s ART hotel that opened last week, is Leo Villareal’s 22,000 LED bulb installation. The bulbs nearly stretch the entire block of 13th to 12th Avenue along Broadway. The lights are not static, but create an ever-changing luminous display.

I filmed the installation and created the below video. I encourage you all to take a look at the display in person when you have the chance.

Leo Villareal is also well known for his light installation on the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge.

ART hotel motor lobby. DUR summer 2015.

The light installation looking south down Broadway

“The ART is reflective of Denver’s new role as the West’s epicenter for visionary thinking synergistically paired with distinctive and exceptionally effective actions,” says general manager David Bodette. “The ART contains a collection of modern and contemporary works and expressions of this very same passion, vitality and refusal by these world-class artists to succumb to the mundane. We are proud to represent a new direction for refined experiential living in a city that is re-expressing what it means to be truly alive in our age.”

Situated on the same block as the Denver Art Museum and directly across the street from History Colorado, the ART hotel will add 165 hotel rooms to downtown Denver. This project was designed by architect Guadalupe Cantu of Davis Partnership Architects, which happens to be the same firm that worked with Daniel Libeskind when he designed the Frederic C. Hamilton Building addition to the Denver Art Museum.

Works of art are displayed at every gathering place in the new hotel and selected works were curated by Dianne Vanderlip, former curator of modern and contemporary art at the Denver Art Museum. Fire Lounge & Terrace, a chef run restaurant at the ART, will also serve as an art gallery with original works on display. One of the unique features of the hotel is that each floor features selected works of art from an individual artist. Each hotel room on that corresponding floor  has prints of the artwork.