Designing Cultural Destinations
- 3 days ago
- 5 min read
Plus, Haas Brothers & Basel Finds Under $50K
Hospitality & Culture
Why Great Art Creates Great Hospitality
Hotels have long competed on amenities: better restaurants, larger spas, more impressive suites. Yet the most memorable hospitality experiences increasingly share something less tangible, a sense of cultural connection.
The most successful hospitality spaces today understand that art is not simply decoration. It is a catalyst. Great art attracts curious people- artists, collectors, and tastemakers who seek a richer cultural experience. It creates conversation between strangers. It encourages guests to linger, return, and engage more deeply with a place and with one another.
Few organizations have demonstrated this better than Hauser & Wirth through Artfarm, their hospitality platform that includes hotels, restaurants, pubs, and cultural destinations across the United Kingdom, Spain, and the United States. At restaurants like Manuela in Los Angeles and New York, museum-quality works by artists such as Philip Guston, Rashid Johnson, Cindy Sherman, Louise Bourgeois, and Nicolas Party live alongside everyday experiences of dining and gathering. The result is not a gallery attached to a restaurant, but an environment where art becomes part of daily life.
What makes these spaces compelling is not simply the caliber of the artists on view. It is the accessibility of the experience. Guests encounter extraordinary works without the formality of a museum or the perceived barriers of the contemporary art world. Art becomes approachable, conversational, and personal.
We believe hospitality has only begun to explore the possibilities of this model.
The question is not whether a hotel should feature blue-chip artists or emerging local talent. The strongest collections do both. Regional artists help communicate a sense of place and identity, while globally recognized voices connect guests to broader cultural conversations. Together, they create a richer and more layered experience.
Just as importantly, hospitality collections are most impactful when they extend beyond the artwork itself. A QR code beside a painting is rarely enough to spark meaningful engagement. Guests increasingly want stories: Why was this artist chosen? What is the connection to the property? How was the work made? What ideas is it exploring?
The future of hospitality art lies not only in acquisition, but in interpretation. Artist talks, studio visits, community programming, collector dinners, wellness experiences, and educational content can transform a collection from a visual amenity into a cultural asset.
In a time when so much of our daily interaction takes place through screens, people are actively seeking authentic experiences and genuine community. Thoughtfully curated art programs create opportunities for both. They bring together collectors, designers, artists, travelers, and curious observers in ways that feel organic rather than exclusive.
The most successful hospitality projects of the next decade will not simply be places to stay. They will become cultural destinations in their own right.
Inside the Haas Brothers' Dream Factory
During Frieze Los Angeles, we had the opportunity to visit the Haas Brothers' newly completed North Hollywood studio, graciously arranged by Marianne Boesky Gallery. Featured in this month’s Architectural Digest, the expansive campus—designed by architect Chet Callahan—is far more than a production space. It serves as a creative ecosystem that brings together fabrication, exhibition, research, education, and community under one roof.
Purpose-built to support the breadth of Simon and Nikolai Haas's multidisciplinary practice, the studio houses dedicated spaces for woodworking, ceramics, metalwork, beadwork, glass, painting, and digital production, alongside a gallery, library, residency program, and gathering spaces for collectors, curators, artists, and collaborators. The architecture mirrors the spirit of their work: playful and cinematic on the surface, yet grounded in remarkable technical rigor and craftsmanship.
What left the strongest impression, however, was learning about the extensive network of artisans behind many of the works. Their collaboration with the South African beadwork collective Monkeybiz has spanned more than a decade, resulting in some of the studio's most iconic forms. More recently, the brothers have expanded this model through projects in California's Central Valley, creating economic opportunities while preserving highly skilled craft traditions. These partnerships have become integral to their practice, transforming the work from singular artistic objects into ambitious acts of collective making.
One detail that particularly resonated with us was the material history embedded within these collaborative works. During our visit, the brothers shared the story of sourcing a remarkable cache of antique Venetian glass beads discovered in a Murano glass factory that had closed in 1982. Originally produced in Venice decades ago, the beads have found new life through the Haas Brothers' beadwork collaborations, linking generations of artisans across continents through a single material.
These historic Murano beads are now incorporated into some of the studio's most ambitious projects, including The Persimmon Tree, a monumental sculpture composed of more than three million beads. The work embodies much of what makes the Haas Brothers' practice so compelling: a seamless fusion of contemporary design, traditional craft, material storytelling, and collective production. What might initially appear whimsical reveals itself, upon closer inspection, to be layered with histories of place, labor, and cultural exchange.
For a practice often celebrated for its whimsical forms and surreal imagination, this collaborative dimension adds an additional layer of meaning. Beneath the playful surfaces is a deeply considered commitment to craftsmanship, knowledge-sharing, and the preservation of artisanal traditions. It was a powerful reminder that some of today's most compelling contemporary art is not only about the final object, but also about the communities and relationships that make its creation possible.
Peeking Out From Under the PDFs
Art Basel returns to Messeplatz, Basel from June 18–21, bringing together more than 200 of the world's leading galleries and thousands of works spanning the blue-chip masterpieces, museum-quality historical works, and the most closely watched contemporary artists in the market today. Widely regarded as the art world's premier fair, Basel remains the place where galleries bring their strongest material and collectors arrive ready to compete for it.
While headlines will undoubtedly focus on the seven- and eight-figure trophies, some of the most exciting discoveries often live in a different category entirely. As preview PDFs continue to flood our inboxes, we've been keeping an eye out for the works that offer exceptional quality, compelling artistic practices, and strong value—all under $50,000.
Ahead of the fair, we've pulled together a selection of our favorite finds: works that may not dominate the headlines but remind us that great collecting is often about spotting the gem hiding in plain sight.
Maxwell Alexandre at Carlos/Ishikawa
Untitled, 2026
$12,000
Aubrey Levinthal at Marianne Boesky Gallery
13th Street Window (Spring), 2026
$ 18,000
Guim Tió at François Ghebaly
La dança a les roques, 2026
€ 7,000
Tim Gardner at 303 Gallery
Bethesda Fountain, 2026
$ 22,000
Isabella Ducrot at Petzel Gallery
Pot with Esclamation, 2026
$20,000
Michael Williamson at P.P.O.W.
Delphinium, 2026
$ 35,000
Tonia Calderon at Vielmetter
Hanging on to this thread. He must not know I can fade into the wind., 2026
$ 18,000
Clare Rojas at Jessica Silverman Gallery
Eventually I'll Go In, 2022
$45,000
Shota Nakamura at Karma
Untitled, 2024
$ 17,500
Gillian Wearing at Tanya Bonakdar
Straight long black hair, 2026
£ 14,000
Interested in Art Travel?
Join RAA for our next curated art experiences in London, Paris, Los Angeles, New York and more.
As always, should you be interested in selling or acquiring works, or having your collection appraised, we would be pleased to speak with you in confidence. We have a selection of works available privately and would be glad to share further details upon request.
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