The recently renovated Hotel Lumen, which lights up its stretch of Hillcrest Avenue at night, now shines even brighter, thanks to a new curated art collection. Hanging on the walls are contemporary pieces by Aaron Curry; Robin Rhode; Richard Misrach; and UNT photography professor Dornith Doherty, a panelist for the upcoming “Take the Lens Cap Off: Trends in Photography.”
Although we greatly admire Curry's cool ink and gouache on paper and Doherty's and Misrach's fine art photography, we are also enamored of the Lumen Light Team, a series of whimsical metallic sculptures by local artist Brad Oldham.
Headington Companies for the Lumen commissioned Oldham and his business partner-wife, Christy Coltrin, to make the onsite sculptures. Using mirror-polished steel, Oldham assembled 24 "members" of the team, which are scattered throughout the property.
Oldham and Coltrin created an entire story around the collection, naming each member based on the colors of the rainbow. Remember ROY G BIV? Oldham brought back that old familiar mnemonic:
- Roger, the high-tech guru
- Olivia, the concierge
- Yates, the hospitality butler
- Mr. Green Jeans, the maintenance expert
- Bancroft, the organic shepherd and recycler
- Ingrid, the animal lover, and Ray, the pup
- Violet, the socialite
Oldham says the project took six months to conceptualize and another six months to fabricate. The collection started with Mr. Green Jeans. From there, Oldham tweaked the written idea, the sketches and the sculptures to complete the Lumen Light Team.
"The biggest challenge was coming up with the concept that fits the space," Oldham says. "My only hope is that the people who work at the Lumen and guests take pride in — and ownership of — the sculptures without damaging them; it means you've done your job right when people interact with the work."
The playful sculptures reflect all colors, providing a different visual experience from day to night. And there are various sizes of each Light Team member spread throughout the hotel — ranging from 9 inches to 6.5 feet tall.
"Some placements are meant to immediately delight the guests — Olivia at the reception desk — while others are [meant to be] discovered," Coltrin says.
To aid with the discovery, a sitemap is available at the front desk. In the meantime, watch the stop-motion video about the Lumen Light Team installation below:
Lumen Light Team from The Lumen on Vimeo.
Coneflower, 2011, by Dornith Doherty.
