Mallory Johnson for Amy Parry Projects
The Great Speckled Bird could be depended on for honest reporting and it also served its readers who were able to use the publication to find other like-minded individuals. It gave many people a voice and a place to publish their artwork or poetry. The Bird’s internal structure was even reflective of the Leftist politics their paper was known for; instead of abiding by a traditional hierarchical structure, staff members would switch in and out of editor positions. Articles that went to print were also determined by popular vote, ensuring the paper maintained a fresh perspective and a very high quality of journalism. A collective with a shared interest that fed the community the news they were looking for, the grittier low down on things that actually mattered to 20 and 30-somethings with a propensity to smoke, attend rock concerts and fight for social justice. That it got its start on the Emory University campus and was originally intended to be a multi-campus underground newspaper makes The Bird’s growth all the more impressive.
Counterculture movements don’t often go unnoticed or unchecked by the powers that be and the same held true for The Bird. Reliant on a network of volunteers to distribute the paper in locations such as college campuses, high schools, and street corners - those selling copies of The Great Speckled Bird were met with harassment from authorities. The arrests ranged from charges as weighty as distribution of pornographic material to minor offenses like jaywalking. The Bird was also investigated by Dekalb Police for “obscenity” and their headquarters, the Birdhouse, was even firebombed at one point. It was discomfort that drove these attacks and a distaste for the way this underground movement held sway in the minds of young people; it was also the way they left no-one off limits from the Mayor to a corporation such as Georgia Power. Their Dekalb printer ultimately refused to continue printing their paper, causing the group to move the printing process into Montgomery, Alabama. No one closer was willing to be associated with printing a paper that was getting so much pushback from the police and local government officials.
No need to tell stories when the story finds you.
Case Study #1 | Pier 2620 Hotel, San Francisco, 2014
AP Projects has been organizing our files and working to document the wide range of dynamic hospitality projects we have completed over the years. This will be the first in a series of shared case studies - Pier 2620 Hotel in San Francisco, CA - our first guestroom art package completed in 2014 (now operating as Marriott Vacation Club - Pulse).
It was a pleasure to work with Chicago based Anderson/Miller LTD on Pier 2620. We hope you enjoy this glimpse into the creative process and production behind this thematic art package.
REVERB by Hard Rock - Summer 2020 in ATL
The Reverb by Hard Rock hotel is now slated to deliver this summer. (Earlier plans had called for debuting the hotel in February, just before the big basketball tournament, developers said last year).
The hotel stands 11 stories and is primed to offer 200 guest rooms, many of which will peer out at the stadium next door.
Amy Parry Projects is excited to see this project come to fruition after working with the Hard Rock brand to develop signature content and visuals that will be seen in the guestrooms and public spaces of numerous properties across the country.
Stay tuned for more details and a peek at what we have been putting together.
Via Sophia + Society Now Open in DC featuring APP Art Program →
A Fiola Mare Alum Opens a Fancy New |All-Day Osteria Downtown
Via Sophia and a hidden cocktail bar will debut in the Hamilton Hotel
by Tierney Plumb
Jun 11, 2019, 1:24pm EDT
Photos by Rey Lopez/Eater DC
The Hamilton Hotel is ready to unveil the final pieces of its multi-million dollar renovation downtown at the corner of 14th and K Streets NW. An Italian restaurant specializing in Neapolitan pizza and a glamorous, postage stamp-sized bar serving cocktails and caviar are both scheduled to open tomorrow.
Following a full lobby transformation and guest room refresh, the historic 318-room hotel is replacing its outdated 14K restaurant with an all-day osteria called Via Sophia. A dark, library-themed bar called Society is hidden off the lobby.
The anticipated two-part venture is helmed by an all-star hospitality cast that includes Via Sophia executive chef Colin Clark, who’s amassed an impressive East Coast resume by working under several James Beard Award Winners (Marc Vetri, Jeff Michaud, and Fabio Trabocchi). He was also part of Le Diplomate’s opening team in 2013. Most most recently, Clark was chef de cuisine at Trabocchi’s Georgetown Harbor darling, Fiola Mare.
Via Sophia (1001 14th Stree NW) will open with breakfast, lunch, and dinner. There’s also an weekday happy hour for apertivos and a late-night pizza menu. Weekend brunch will join the mix later this summer.
In Clark’s new post, he hopes to breathe new life into the same block as The Washington Post’s headquarters overlooking tree-lined Franklin Square.
“We are going for upscale — this is 14th and K and we are trying to make it a dining destination,” Clark tells Eater.
Since wood-fired Neapolitan pizza is Via Sophia’s star attraction, the staff went the extra mile to elevate their pie-making skills. Clark and sous chef Cameron Willis trained under master pizzaiola Roberto Caporuscio, owner of New York City’s Keste Pizza & Vino and Don Antonio (named “#1 Pizza in New York” by New York Magazine).
Five seasonal pizzas at Via Sophia include a classic Margherita — with San Marzano tomatoes, buffalo mozzarella, and fresh basil — and Fra Diavlo (salame picante, fresno chiles, red onion, buffalo mozzarella, San Marzano tomatoes).
Even the staff floating around will be dressed to the nines. Ashley Blazer Biden, Joe Biden’s daughter, designed the hotel’s new stylish black-and-white uniforms in collaboration with Livelihood.
Atlanta-based Art Consulting Firm, Amy Parry Projects, helped curate a custom art collection that weaves old and new elements across Via Sophia. Think nostalgic antique metal pizza peels juxtaposed with modern photography and abstract art pieces.
Clark’s most recent cooking stint at seafood-focused Fiola Mare is evident across its underwater section of dishes. A grilled Norwegian salmon features a traditional Spanish romesco sauce, alongside charred broccolini, pine nuts, and black garlic dressing. A minimalist presentation of black bass, accented with baby squash, asparagus tips, morels, and a golden beet border, lets the fish shine.
Southern Italian-inspired dishes include bruschetta built on a house-baked semolina loaf; tagliata di manzo (sliced steak) with charred spring onion, confit cherry tomatoes, balsamic reduction, arugula, and barolo jus; and monkfish ossobuco, with sauce livornese, clams, olives, capers, fennel, and potatoes.
“This is very in line with my background — the whole idea is a balance between rustic and modern,” Clark says. “We knock the rustic element out of the park — it was a decision early on to make bread, pizza, and pasta in house.”
Chicken al mattone (crispy artichokes, guanciale, peppers, maitake mushrooms, chicken jus) is “as old school rustic as it gets” he adds.
Carb-driven entrees include ravioli finochietta, with asparagus tips, fava beans, morels, and fresh parmigiana. Pappardelle comes with rabbit ragu, ramps, pecorino and Castelvetrano olives.
Antipasto orders include caponata-toasted eggplant with San Marzano tomatoes, golden raisins and pine nuts. Meat and cheese boards feature prosciutto di parma aged 24 months.
Wines and spirits hailing from Italy largely make up the drinks section, with some 120 wine bottles available. Local makers from D.C. and Virginia also contribute to the craft beer and spirits selection.
Society, inspired by Prohibition-era secret societies and private clubs from the art deco period, features just 14 seats. Fancy bar snacks include caviar with panna cotta, nuts, and Sicilian olives. Zack Faruki, an alum of Michelin-starred Fiola, is leading a mixology program.
Wines by the glass start at $20, and big spenders can also peruse from a rare collection of reds with a few bottles dancing near the $700 mark.
Society is an ode to renowned French-born architect Jules-Henrí de Sibour, who originally designed the hotel in 1922. The Prohibition-era architect was a member of Yale’s Skull and Bones Society. Framed hand drawings and photos taken from his time at Yale line the walls.
Hours are Tuesday and Wednesday, 5 p.m. to midnight; and Thursday through Saturday until 1 a.m.
Happy Mother's Day!
Happy Mother’s Day Weekend from all three of us {moms} at Amy Parry Projects! May all your Sunday dreams come true!
The Coolest New Things...
Thrillist Travel just put out a list of the “Best New Things to do in America in 2019.” On the list are museums, distilleries, restaurants and hotels. Ironically, the item on the list we were the most excited about was a theme park:
SoundWaves at Gaylord Opryland.
Towards the end of 2018 we had the pleasure of working with Atlanta-based BLUR Workshop on custom wall-coverings for the party rooms for this massive fun-spot. Here’s a peak at one of them at the time of installation.
More about the Park from Thrillist here:
Nashville, Tennessee
Expected Opening: May 2019 (Indoor facilities are open now)
As hot as Nashville is as a vacation destination, it’s a seven-hour drive to the closest beach. If you’re looking for aquatic entertainment, winters are too cold and summers are too oppressively humid to comfortably to hang out poolside. That's all changing with the opening of SoundWaves at the Gaylord Opryland Resort, a property so sprawling you could probably spot it from space. The indoor section is already in operation, but when SoundWaves fully opens this summer, it'll have more than 200,000 square feet of water-based fun. Think water slides and tube flumes lined with LED lights, a 315,000-gallon wave pool, plus a gigantic movie screen and speakers throughout the space. It's not all shrieking kids, either -- there will be designated adults-only areas like bars, lounges, private cabanas, and party rooms perfect for bachelorette parties.
Happy Thanksgiving | What We Gathered at BDNY
Amy Parry Projects is enjoying a relaxing week in celebration of the Thanksgiving holiday. Wishing the same for all of our many friends and contacts!
APP Out of Town
In the spirit of gratitude, we are thankful for our work within the highly creative
Boutique Hospitality Industry.
We had a very inspiring trip to this year's Boutique Design New York (BDNY trade fair) where we could see and hear firsthand from leaders in our industry. The work of a lot of creative minds goes into each and every hotel and it was greatly affirming to see how much collaboration is truly happening.
The public spaces of our global hotels are being designed with greater connectivity in mind. There are amazing innovations in lighting, A/V and modular furniture. Accessories and mirrors are truly standing out. And punctuating all of the spaces, artwork is still cited as the icing on the cake - offering guests a sense of time and place which is an essential element of memorable travel. We saw inventive design elements that allow endless possibilities for integrating art. We are moving so far beyond the framed print these days!
BDNY proves this industry to be flourishing, with an abundance of exciting resources. Not surprisingly, the most fruitful part of our trip was the face time we had with some of the great Designers who bring all of these resources together. We are grateful to be one part of creating successful hotel experiences that guests will remember and we cannot wait to see what collaborations 2019 will bring about.
We were also fortunate enough to catch Nick Cave at Jack Shainman, the Salon Art + Design Show at the Park Armory and an absolutely incredible showing of Hilma af Klint's "Paintings for the Future" at the Guggenheim. Inspiration overload! (please visit our IG feed for more images from our trip!)
APP Out of Town / Palm Springs, CA
Winter in Palm Springs is just magical. In mid-January there are plenty of parking spaces and coyotes, and everywhere you look there are palm trees and rainbows framed by a spectacular backdrop of snow-covered mountains. Driving around with your mouth hanging open, there is inspiration literally at every turn.
Palm Springs architect and resident, Trevor O’Donnell offers a terrific Mid-Century Modern Architecture Tour. The approximately two-and-a-half-hour trip gives a drive-by view of homes that represent the best examples of this fascinating movement. So much to see and so many stories about the lifestyles of the families who lived in the homes, the competition (as well as mutual admiration) between architects and why the simplified, efficient designs, perfectly situated within the desert landscape, offered their inhabitants better, more relaxed living experiences. After all, Palm Springs is legendary - considered to be the ultimate place to step back and unwind.
Art consultants typically receive a plethora of details about interiors in order to make their suggestions for complementing artworks. In this case, it was just fun to imagine what could be found inside by only seeing the exteriors. The following images were inspired by this first trip of the year: mid-century modern homes paired with works of art from APP's endless art database.
We specialize in capturing a sense of place in our art packages. We could do this all day…
Past, Present + Future / We Love Boutique Hotels
One of the great points of pride for Amy Parry Projects is that we have worked in boutique hospitality since our inception. We understand the guest experience and the desires of our clients. We love that the consumer drives the developments in our business, and that hotel trends we admire and exemplify in our projects flourished in 2016 and will continue to do so in the coming year...
OLD BUILDINGS RENOVATED INTO NEW HOTELS
There is no greater way to offer a unique visual experience for a hotel guest than by welcoming them into a space with built-in history and character. Although chain hotels are some of the ones choosing old properties for their new concepts, each renovated hotel is able to convey an independent feel. Each hotel is set apart by the unique architectural elements which developers choose (or are forced) to keep during renovation. This trend “straddles history and hospitality,” allowing guests to stay in old offices, warehouses, hospitals, etc. The art and furnishings provide the throwback and often pay tribute to the buildings’ rich past. What we love most about this trend is that the older buildings are typically situated in urban epicenters. We are thrilled by the resurgence of downtown and their abundance of interest-generating landmarks. When you stay on a bustling Main Street or in an established, beautiful downtown neighborhood, you are immersed in the city’s culture. Your choice of hotel helps tremendously in that by providing you proximity and carrying the authenticity of a place throughout.
INTENTIONAL ART EXPERIENCES
Going along with intentionally putting hotels in context-filled old buildings, hotels continue to strive to offer spaces with a “lived-in” feeling. Larger hotel companies competing with the Airbnb experience are turning to the immediate resources to achieve this local flavor. Even West Elm, a furniture company, is entering the hospitality business, set to open a handful of boutique concepts in 2018. These companies are giving people more than just a place to sleep. Nowadays, when a guest stays at a great hotel, they can expect to be served local wine and coffee, hear local bands in the bar on weekend nights, take yoga in a studio also frequented by city residents, and play games with other guests in the lobbies. And at the top of our list, their guestoom might feature artwork by the city’s best artists and the first floor may boast a legit, museum-quality collection. As art consultants, it is so much more fun to pick art to complement a hotel’s character, rather than it’s couches (although we can do that too).
Amy Parry Projects is honored to provide art for boutique hotels.
The entire hospitality experience should be curated to make each stay memorable, comfortable and fun for the guest. Here’s to a great 2017 - we look forward to amplifying each project with awesome, intentional art (like the commissioned Jesus Perea seen below).
IMAGE 1: Jesus Perea, customized print for upcoming hotel (inserted local imagery)
IMAGE 2: AP on Site: "Cloud" being built in the ceiling of a historic boutique hotel designed to cover pipes required to stay through renovation.
APP Out of Town - NYC's Ludlow Hotel
On this most recent NYC visit, we made a stop in the Lower East Side to see this boutique hotel gem which was completed in summer of 2014. Hotelier Sean MacPherson (also known for the Bowery and Maritime Hotels among others) turned an empty, concrete building into an effortlessly cool and comfortable hotel offering 184 rooms in 10 different types. While the spaces of the Ludlow look great, what the entire hotel offers most importantly, is an amazing, whole-picture feel - like you’re staying in NYC as a local. You can really slip into the feel of the neighborhood and MacPherson’s impression of it from the gritty, glory days of the 1980s. In fact, MacPherson has gone on record explaining his wish that the lobby serve over time as a living room for the neighborhood. The mix of new and vintage furniture in mahogany and cognac leathers, printed tweed, purple velvet, animal hides and fur seem inherited down many times from a favorite relative, and no detail (hand-stitched curtains, worn and whimsical tchotchkes, Indian rugs, tiny iridescent tiles) seems the least bit out of place, contrived or curated. It all just works.
What to notice...
1) Check out the custom reception desk and admire the old school drawers behind it.
2) Enjoy the legit, word-burning limestone fireplace, flanked by burnt out brass sconces and Marshall speaker cabinets hanging down from chains. Look around for a Ron Gorchov painting and freak out a little.
3) Try to think of a place in your house you can work in one of the vintage de Sede Snake Non Stop Sofas and how you would ever be able to afford one.
4) Imagine the past life of the recycled factory windows separating the Lobby from the Dirty French restaurant and all the stories they reflect.
5) Order a $16 Lilikoi cocktail at the zinc coated bar in the corner and enjoy it sitting under the hotel’s greenhouse structure that is apparently pleasant year-round.
6) Covet the black and white brushstroke pants of the cocktail waitress.
7) If you stay the night, you’ll sleep on a four poster bed from Portugal, surrounded by inserted and white-washed ceiling beams and even more amazing brass fixtures (including Hollywood style vanity lights in the bathrooms).
8) Marvel at the museum-quality guestroom art, curated by the NYC magnate, Vito Schnabel.
9) Witness the room literally expand after dark as the city view becomes the centerpiece of the small, simple space.
10) Enjoy the authentic, surprisingly low-key street, capped off by the iconic Katz’s Deli on your way to the F or the 6 and the rest of the great city where unique experiences are the norm.