McKibbon Hotel Management to infuse Aloft Greenville Downtown with local art

GREENVILLE, SC –  McKibbon Hotel Management, Inc., a leading hotel management company with more than 80 properties, announced that its Aloft Greenville Downtown hotel will feature the work of ten local artists in its public spaces, guestrooms and suites. The unique program, which is part of McKibbon’s commitment to creating a top-notch guest experience in its hotels, brings a local flair to Aloft Greenville Downtown and celebrates artists from the Upstate’s art community. The hotel, a Starwood Hotel and Resort lifestyle hotel, is set to open this winter at ONE City Plaza.

The artwork is part of McKibbon Hotel Management’s art collection, which is comprised of pieces specifically commissioned for its various hotel properties. Each hotel’s individual collection helps support the local art community at hand. “Greenville has such a vibrant and unique art community, and we are thrilled to showcase a sampling in our Aloft Greenville Downtown hotel,” said Lucie Manley, vice president of brand experience for McKibbon Hotel Management. “By featuring the work of local artists, we are able to incorporate the surrounding culture into the hotel and provide a unique opportunity for our guests to experience the artistic side of Greenville.”

Aloft Greenville Downtown will feature the following local artists:

• Kent Ambler is considered one of the top Americana artists in the South. He is a master printmaker and sculptor whose work can be found in private and public collections throughout the U.S. Ambler’s work will be featured in the hotel’s motor lobby niches.

• Angie Carrier is a mixed-media, acrylic painting and decorative accessories artist.
Her studio, Carrier Collective, is based in Greenville. Her work is influenced by her love for animals and her childhood spent in the Appalachian Mountains. Carrier’s work will be featured in the hotel’s guestrooms and suites.

• Darryl DeBruhl is a painter, printmaker and sculptor who is recognized throughout the Southeast. A Greenville native, his work will be featured in the hotel’s third floor meeting corridor and main lobby.

• Christy Dias specializes in painting and mixed-media, with artwork featured in collections throughout the Southeast. Dias donates a portion of proceeds from the sale of her art to help fund research for pancreatic disease through her Cranky Panky organization. Her work will be featured in the W XYZ® Lounge.

• Janina Elizabeth Tukarski Ellis is a third-generation artist who specializes in both acrylic and oil paintings. Her artwork can be found nationally and internationally in private and public collections and will be featured in the hotel’s meeting space.

• Darlene Fuhst focuses on the exploration of color, texture and form, with many of her pieces featuring vintage neon signs from the 1940s-1970s. Fuhst’s work will be featured outside of the hotel’s breakfast area.

• Robert Urban is an artist who combines vibrant colors and collage techniques throughout his artwork. His work is in collections throughout the Carolinas, U.S. and Denmark and will be featured in the hotel’s guestrooms and suites.

• JJ Ohlinger is a talented watercolorist and painter whose realistic watercolors and art are featured in regional and national publications as well as many public and private collections throughout the U.S. Ohlinger’s work will be featured in one of the hotel’s conference rooms and in the third floor meeting corridor.

• Teri Peña focused on large landscape oil paintings for much of her career and recently shifted her focus to figurative painting and sculpting. She is the owner of The Art Bomb studio in Greenville, and her work will be located in the third floor meeting corridor of the hotel.

• Judy Verhoeven uses a comprehensive collection of found papers, which she paints, stains and textures as the palette for her collages. Her work is featured in numerous private and public collections and will be located in the hotel’s entry vestibule.

The following artists living outside of Greenville will be featured in the hotel:

• Thor Bueno resides in Penland, NC, where he completed a three-year residency at Penland School of Crafts. Bueno specializes in blown glass and owns Bueno Glass with his wife, Jennifer. Bueno’s artwork will be featured in the third floor conference room within the hotel.

• Kristina Falotico lives is Jacksonville, FL and concentrates on woodblock prints and drawings, which are featured in collections throughout the U.S. She spent much of her career in Greenville, and her family still resides in the area. In the hotel, her artwork will be featured in the third floor meeting corridor.

• Nancy Hilliard Joyce lives in Asheville, where she owns Nancy Joyce gallery. Her paintings are intricate in form and filled with layers of color, perspective, gestures and expression. Joyce is a Greenville native and much of her family still resides in the area. She is passionate about giving back to children in need and regularly uses her art as a platform to raise money for charity and non-profit organizations. Her artwork will be featured in the hotel’s guestrooms and suites.

• Eileen Powell resides in Clemson and teaches at Clemson University. Powell specializes in ceramic, metal and glass, and regularly exhibits her work across the U.S. Her artwork will be featured in the hotel’s motor lobby niches and main lobby. Powell’s work, “Migration,” is a unique aerial piece consisting of 185 slumped glass origami-shaped birds, which will be suspended from the fourth floor ceiling. Her ceramic work will also flank the hotel lobby’s fireplace.

• Miranda Sawyer lives in Spartanburg, where she is the art coordinator for Spartanburg County Public Libraries. She is a multi-media artist whose work embodies a unique mixture of painting, printmaking and other diverse media. Within the hotel, her work will be featured in the main lobby and W XYZ® bar area.

• Virginia Scotchie: lives in Columbia, SC and serves as the head of the ceramics department at the University of South Carolina. Virginia is considered one of the foremost ceramic artists in the country. Her work is in many national and international private and public collections. She has written and published several books and continues to appear in prestigious ceramic publications. Her artwork will be featured outside of the hotel entry and in the fourth floor niches.

In addition to featuring local and regional artists throughout the hotel, Aloft Greenville Downtown will showcase local emerging musicians through the hotel’s Live@Aloft music series. The hotel will sit atop a new 474-space public parking garage and feature 144 spacious, loft-like rooms, leading-edge technology and a lively, social atmosphere. Aloft Greenville Downtown will be McKibbon’s third owned and managed Aloft hotel, joining Aloft Asheville Downtown and Aloft Tallahassee Downtown. It will feature an outdoor level on the sixth floor with cabana rooms, a fire pit, dog walk and sun-filled outdoor pool elevated for views of the Blue Ridge Mountains, all facing Washington Street. The hotel will feature an array of suites, including six poolside cabana rooms, seven king suites and seven corner suites. Aloft brand’s signature W XYZ® bar will sit on the fourth floor and open up to The Ledge overlooking ONE City Plaza.

To learn more about Aloft Greenville Downtown, visit here, like the hotel on Facebook at www.facebook.com/AloftGreenville or follow the hotel on Instagram @AloftGreenville. To learn more about McKibbon Hotel Management, visit www.mckibbon.com.