Located on Prentiss Street in Cambridge, MA, Prentiss House was originally constructed in 1843. The property has witnessed numerous iterations, conveying a shared belief in the Inn’s ongoing landmark status. Amidst a recent restoration and its spring 2022 reopening to guests, we collaborated with Live Thatch Boston to design an art program that complements the fresh yet historically-informed interiors and conveys the artistic vibrancy of an active local creative community.
Cicely Carew, Fête, 2018. Print on archival paper. 20 x 15 inches. © Cicley Carew.
As a mission-driven art advisory firm, our organization is committed to generating sustenance for artists who live and work in the area. In collaboration with our client, we selected artworks by four New England-based artists to infuse this neighborhood landmark with a hyper-local spirit. Every work is accompanied by a label that includes object information, curatorial text, and a QR code with further information about the artist. Providing this context creates an opportunity for guests to connect with these artists beyond their stay at Prentiss House.
Our team also provided curatorial expertise, carefully studying how art pieces relate to the spaces they occupy. Through deep ongoing research and cultivated field knowledge, we acquired art that is sensitive to the environment, aiming to stimulate meaningful connections and poignant art experiences for guests.
Soyoung L. Kim, Standing On Foreign Land, 2019. Print on archival paper. 15 x 20 inches. © Soyoung L. Kim.
Cicely Carew, Fête, 2018. Print on archival paper. 20 x 15 inches. © Cicley Carew.
Prints by either Soyoung L. Kim and Cicely Carew are found in all of the guest rooms. Kim’s Standing On Foreign Land and Thoughts Gathered from a Desert Hike, No. 2 are both inspired by travel and its transformative potential. Fête embodies Carew’s ongoing project of expressing radical joy and liberation. These color-focused works capture a whimsical fluidity; their abstract subject matter offers guests infinite channels of connection.
Lizzy Dargie, Navy/Blue from Bunch #6, 2016. Print on archival paper. 8.5 x 18 inches. © Lizzy Dargie.
Lizzy Dargie’s Navy/Blue Imprint from Bunch #6 appears in the lobby sitting area. Dargie renders nebulous shapes, offering a site of contemplation.
Jodi Colella, Don’t Pick on Sam Too Much, 2018; Back Where We Started, 2018. You Caught My Eye, 2018. Embroidery, found postcards, assorted threads. 7 x 9 inches each. © Jodi Colella.
Three works from Jodi Colella’s “Sampled Lives” series hang behind the lobby’s check-in desk. In these pieces, Colella uses found postcards as her canvas, over which she embroiders personal messages with fiber and thread. These works capture the intimacy and distance of travel correspondence, a deliberate pairing for a space that lodges travelers.
We also had the opportunity to transform other interior spaces with a historic collection of prints and artworks, bonding the building to its material history. A gallery wall of rich artifacts lines the second-floor hallway, immersing guests in a literal passage of time gone by.