Hotels And Greek Goddesses

In terms of color and ethereal composition, one of our favorite murals was created was for a boutique hotel in New York called The Muse Hotel.

The Muses, of course, are the Greek Goddesses who inspire those who excel in the arts and sciences, and as such they are definitely influences in our work here at Silver Hill. 

The Muse Hotel wanted to create a unique and luxurious environment in New York that would offer its guests dreamy inspiration during their stay in this most inspiring of cities....And to reach that goal, the designers were inspired to include a luminous ceiling mural over the main axis of the hotel lobby.

The original concept for the mural, shown in our maquette above, was to make an abstract depiction of the Greek Muses soaring throughout a celestial sky.

In style, we were partly influenced by the artworks of Francis Picabia - particularly the way his painting often included figural pen and ink outlines that would be placed over colorful backgrounds.

In the final mural, there were a couple of changes from our maquette; the leaf-like foliage on the sides was eliminated, and (as often happens on 'commercial' projects) the rather tame nudity of the abstracted figures was deemed too provocative or potentially offensive - in the finished mural, the Muses were given flowing white nightgowns for a much more modest appearance.

As installed, the mural was quite lovely.  We were pleased, and our clients were very pleased - In fact, if you visit the Muse Hotel's website, you will see that they use our mural as an integral part of their image branding.

Whether or not explicitly intended, like the Muse Hotel's web identity strategy, the beauty and unique appearance of a mural can communicate a variety of positive brand attributes to the clientele.  For example, to guests at the Muse hotel, our mural might suggest luxury, refinement, taste, uniqueness, play, relaxation, and warmth.

In essence, a mural can help to successfully 'tell the story' of a brand or business to the customers and clients in a way that is both beautiful and unforgettable - an obvious competitive advantage in a crowded marketplace!