As the Kimpton Aertson Hotel settles into its new home in Nashville’s dynamic Midtown corridor, its soaring 17-floor façade isn’t the only thing that will be garnering attention. The mixed-use building also celebrates the arts, both on a global and local scale, through natural materials, organic touches and bold, colorful installations.
A living wall makes a welcoming entrance to Nashville’s Aertson
Like the rest of Nashville—a hodgepodge of old and new—the Aertson Hotel is a fusion of eras. The LEED-designed hotel commissioned New Yorker Cynthia Reeves to curate the hotel’s art collection, paying homage to railroad tycoon Cornelius Vanderbilt, for whom its neighbor Vanderbilt University was named. Cynthia leveraged architectural designer Gensler’s goal “to augment the feel of this industrial building by installing artworks that incorporate innovative materials used in unexpected ways” through commissioning original works from a roster of talented artists, each of whose distinct vibe jived with Nashville’s eclectic design scene.
A stork light is part of the Aertson’s eclectic collection
“We drew on artists from Asia, Europe and the US to curate the final collection of site-specific works that will be live in the hotel lobby,” the founder and president of her eponymous art gallery Cynthia-Reeves says. “The artists all used diverse materials including wood, stone, cable, nails, thread and bamboo to capitalize on their textural strengths in a vanguard and beautiful way.”
Colorful wood art makes an eye-catching statement
Keep your eyes peeled for the work of these four featured artists when Nashville’s Kimpton Aertson Hotel opens.
A striking 17 feet in width, Anne Lindberg’s “Redberry” is an elaborate network of thread and staples in hues of bright orange and hot pink. Annie’s work can be seen in museums and galleries across the United States. She creates art that aims to tap into a “non-verbal place,” eliciting emotional, visceral and perceptual responses.
Annie Lindberg’s “Redberry” stands out at the Kimpton Aertson Hotel
Built by layering laminate wood as a medium, Cha Jong Rye’s eight-foot wide, undulating artwork flows across the living room wall like a thrown velvet blanket, frozen in time. Her work is created by the intricate hand-sanding of organic topographies into the surface of a white birch canvas and evokes the formation of strata in the natural world. Born in Daejeon, Korea, Jong Rye has been featured in numerous exhibitions around the world, including the Sungoko Art Museum and the Nampo Art Museum in Korea.
The Aertson’s living room features Cha Jong Rye’s 8-foot long birch artwork
Featured numerous times throughout the hotel, Korean-born JaeHyo’s art reflects a heavy use of natural and recycled materials, with expertly sawn tree trunks and branches forming the base of material he uses to create large, mystical sculptures. Often drawing on the circular nature of his chosen medium, the pieces seem to stand as a timeless witness to human-created constructions.
Lee JaeHyo
Nashville’s most iconic art shop, Hatch Show Print, will infuse the 180 guestrooms with a dose of local flavor. Since 1879, the letterpress-making company has been responsible for creating countless concert posters, signs and handbills galore, many of which can be viewed in their shop and museum housed alongside the Country Music Hall of Fame, and now each Kimpton Aertson Hotel guestroom will also feature its own unique Hatch print, die-cut and pieced together from three individual letterpress images.
