Cultural Capital: How Art Builds Brand, Loyalty, Legacy, and ROI in Hospitality

—A reflection on what hospitality art could be—when it’s rooted in place, shaped by partnership, and built for lasting legacy.

It’s been a while since I’ve published here, but this felt like the right project—and the right moment—to return. Thanks for being here.

Collaboration or Complacency?

I’ve been thinking a lot about hotel art lately. Not the headline-worthy kind that shows up in design magazines—though I’ve been lucky to work on a few of those, and they’re a joy when the stars align.

I mean the other kind—the framed abstractions in corridors and guest rooms, quietly doing their job: filling a blank wall. Bland enough to offend no one, specific to nowhere at all.

Of course, it’s rarely so binary. There’s a wide spectrum between headline-making blue-chip installations and no-name, value-engineered canvas prints framed in composite mouldings as economically as possible. And in many of those spaces—that’s where R. Cline ARTS shines. We’ve created unique yet fiscally approachable works: site-specific commissions, murals, and mixed media pieces tailored to prominent areas like check-in lobbies, spa entrances, and luxury suites—in collaboration with original emerging artists from around the globe. I savor these opportunities. These spaces naturally warrant more attention because of their prominence.

But what about all the other moments? The corridors. The standard guest rooms. The transitional areas, powder rooms, elevator bays. Too often, there’s a disconnect between how these works are considered and the care given to more high-profile spaces.

These works are forgettable. And in an industry built on experience and memory, forgettable feels like a missed step.

They’re small visual moments—but could they be something more?

I’ve worked in art consulting for years—collaborating with interior designers, hotel owners, developers, and public institutions. And I’ve seen firsthand how often art is positioned last in the timeline: the line item that gets squeezed, trimmed, or templated. It makes sense—deadlines get tight, budgets stretch, opening dates loom. I get it.

The question persists: how much further can these art opportunities take us? How do we, as designers, consultants, and owners, create deeper cultural value while staying fluent in the language of ROI and efficiency?

Complacency has never been a friend to progress.
I know there’s a better way. I know I can do better.

New Expectations

Guests are no longer satisfied with generic gestures of luxury or listless nods to a sense of place. With an abundance of choices, travelers are looking for something that resonates—thoughtfulness, aesthetics, and culture that align with their own values and aspirations. Not just because it’s beautiful, but because it means something.

In response, hospitality brands are evolving. The most compelling ones are asking deeper questions about identity, experience, and impact.

What kind of cultural presence are we creating?
What kind of legacy are we building?
How do we create lasting value—beyond square footage, beyond RevPAR—and how do we earn real guest loyalty?

When art is treated as dialogue—rather than decor—it can enrich the guest experience, support local creative economies, and quietly reinforce everything the brand wants to say, even when no one is speaking.

These questions are complex. But art—when done with care—can be part of the answer. Not an afterthought. A quiet throughline. A point of connection.

The Call

Over the past year, I’ve been quietly building something with my team at R. Cline ARTS. We call it Inn Resonance.

It isn’t a program, and it certainly isn’t a pre-packaged art solution. It’s a curatorial initiative rooted in the belief that art—when given room to speak—can deepen our sense of place, strengthen the cultural fabric of a property, and invite guests into something more lasting than a beautifully staged stay.

The idea emerged slowly, out of a quiet professional ambivalence. I’ve long felt a tension between the way hospitality projects are structured and what art can actually do. Too often, the process flattens into something purely aesthetic or transactional. Inn Resonance is a quiet attempt to realign those aims.

It’s also an invitation into a more thoughtful kind of partnership. Each project is built in collaboration with ownership, the local creative community, and our team at RCA—designed not only to enrich the guest experience but to create shared, ongoing value. In many cases, this includes a structure for long-term revenue sharing between artists, properties, and community organizations.

It’s about creating something with presence—and with lasting impact.

A New Contribution

The first iteration of Inn Resonance is currently underway in partnership with a new boutique hotel in a rapidly evolving cultural corridor. The neighborhood is layered—creative, a little gritty, and moving to its own beat—which made it the perfect setting to pilot this kind of work: place-specific, collaborative, and designed to linger.

From the beginning, we approached the art not as decoration, but as a question. The curatorial direction draws on the surrounding urban textures and natural forms where forest meets ocean, interpreted across a range of mediums—painting, textile, ceramic, digital, and sound. Some artists were commissioned individually; others were invited into cross-disciplinary pairings to develop work in conversation and expand their practices. This tension—between disciplines, perspectives, and materials—is part of what gives the project its depth.

A few pieces include AR triggers and subtle QR codes that unlock layered storytelling: audio, video, or process-based overlays that extend the viewer’s experience without disrupting the physical design. One corridor installation incorporates scent—a custom fragrance developed with the artist to echo the mood and materials of the work itself.

Original works are planned for shared spaces—lobby, corridors, lounge areas—while select reproductions will appear in guest rooms. These aren’t filler pieces; they’re an extension of the narrative. Guests who feel drawn to a work can scan a discreet code to learn more about the artist and, if they choose, acquire a limited-edition print of their own. The fulfillment process is fully managed by RCA, and proceeds are shared through a long-term revenue model designed to benefit ownership, artists, and community organizations alike.

A second Inn Resonance project is already in development—a property with a very different identity and a new story to tell. That’s the point. Each iteration is bespoke, built in partnership, and shaped to reflect the people and place it inhabits.

The Invitation

We consume more than ever—images, stories, opinions—often at speeds we barely register. A scroll, a glance, a flick of the thumb. That rhythm doesn’t stay online; it follows us into the world. We scan rooms the way we scan feeds: fast, habitual, rarely stopping long enough for something to reach us.

But what if we paused?

This work—Inn Resonance—asks for something different. Not spectacle, not distraction. Just pause. Presence. A moment of recognition that invites us to linger a little longer, to feel something, to look twice, and consider.

When art is made with care, and placed with intention, it becomes more than visual interest. It becomes part of the emotional memory of a space. Part of how a place lives in the guest’s mind long after they’ve left. But maybe more importantly, it becomes a way to build something—between the people who make the work, the people who live in and shape the place, and the brand that holds it all together.

In a time of high-speed impressions and forgettable gestures, this is our quiet offering: to create work that lasts, relationships that grow, and spaces that feel human—because they are.

Let’s Talk

If you’d like to see the case study deck for the first Inn Resonance project—or talk about how this kind of curatorial collaboration could support your brand—
I’d love to be in conversation.
📩 rachel@rclinearts.com