This Q&A is a part of Observer’s Knowledgeable Insights collection, the place business leaders, innovators and strategists distill years of expertise into direct, sensible takeaways and ship readability on the problems shaping their industries. In San Diego, Oram Lodges is testing a provocative concept: what if hospitality didn’t simply show artwork, however actively participated in its creation?
On the middle of this experiment is the Granger Lodge, a Romanesque landmark in-built 1902 and meticulously restored as a design-forward cultural anchor. As San Diego’s solely Design Lodges property, the Granger occupies a uncommon place on the intersection of architectural heritage, up to date creativity and civic life. Now, beneath the curatorial management of worldwide artwork advisor Jennifer Findley, founding father of the JFiN Collective and Oram’s newly appointed Director of Arts & Tradition, the property is coming into its subsequent section as a residing cultural area.
Findley, whose follow spans personal collections, museums and institutional partnerships, is spearheading a first-of-its-kind collaboration with UC San Diego’s famend Stuart Assortment. Quite than staging conventional lodge exhibitions, the partnership embeds artists in residence in the course of the analysis and growth section of main public artworks, utilizing the lodge as a generative base for experimentation, immersion and site-responsive creation. The inaugural artist, Los Angeles–primarily based sculptor Max Hooper Schneider, might be adopted by Mexico Metropolis–primarily based collective RojoNegro and designer Carla Fernández in 2026, extending Oram’s imaginative and prescient throughout borders, disciplines and communities.
This shift is unfolding in shut collaboration with Kevin Mansour, co-founder and managing director of Oram Lodges, whose growth and operational technique positions cultural programming as a foundational factor of a property’s id. Collectively, Findley and Mansour are rethinking what resorts may be: lively websites of cultural manufacturing moderately than passive exhibition areas. The 2 are exploring how embedding artists early reshapes each the economics and ethos of hospitality, how the return on cultural funding may be measured past aesthetics and why persistence, authorship and site-specificity have gotten strategic benefits moderately than luxuries. Because the boundaries between artwork, design and expertise proceed to blur, Oram’s mannequin factors towards a future wherein hospitality operates as a residing system that creates that means, reminiscence and place.
Oram Lodges is positioning artwork not as décor however as a residing element of the visitor expertise. What impressed you to take this strategy, and the way does it shift the economics or model id of a hospitality group?
Jennifer Findley and Kevin Mansour: We felt that hospitality was lacking a possibility to attach on a deeper degree. We didn’t need the artwork to simply grasp there; we wished it to ask company to pause and ask questions. Friends go to us from everywhere in the world—we goal to encourage them in a totally new manner that engages the senses. Collaborating with internationally acknowledged however locally-based companions like artwork advisor Jennifer Findley and the JFiN Collective, in addition to UC San Diego and the Stuart Assortment, is integral to creating our authentically curated imaginative and prescient.
From a model perspective, this strategy humanizes us. It shifts the main target from easy luxurious to shared discovery. Economically, we discover that when a visitor connects emotionally with an area—once they really feel they’ve realized one thing or seen one thing stunning—they worth the keep otherwise. It’s much less about transaction and extra about reminiscence. We aren’t simply promoting a room; we’re providing a second of reflection, and company appear to actually respect that.
Lodges have lengthy built-in artwork collections, however your mannequin embeds artists in the course of the analysis and growth section of main works. What makes this residency mannequin strategically completely different for each artists and hospitality companions?
JF and KM: By bringing the “arts in residence,” we’re constructing a essentially completely different mannequin as a result of it positions the lodge as an lively a part of the inventive course of—the resorts usually are not merely a spot for show. As a substitute of manufacturing items for the lodge, artists use the lodge as a house base and supply of inspiration and a generative place for his or her work.
For a lot of artists—particularly these whose practices reply to panorama, gentle, environmental stimuli, social context or native ecology—immersion is crucial. Being right here provides them direct entry to the ocean, town’s rhythms, the vibrancy of the border area and the actual qualities of Southern California gentle. These parts have lengthy formed the area’s creative historical past, and the residency permits artists to have interaction with them in actual time.
For these working with the Stuart Assortment, this proximity gives a deeper understanding of the group and the cultural setting their work will in the end enter. The residency provides them time and area to construct tasks rooted in San Diego’s distinct sense of place.
We’re additionally reimagining what a “residency” may be by granting artists entry to the constructing’s historic, usually unseen areas—vaults, underground corridors and uncooked, character-rich areas not often skilled by company. These environments grow to be residing laboratories for analysis, experimentation and site-responsive creation—prospects that conventional hospitality settings merely don’t supply. We goal to provide artists a real residence away from residence.
For artists, this mannequin helps a richer, context-driven inventive course of. The purpose will not be merely show; even when a piece is exhibited onsite, it might later journey and tackle new meanings, however the lodge stays a part of its origin story. For hospitality companions, the mannequin transforms the lodge from a passive collector into an lively cultural collaborator—supporting work that’s born from the place itself and deepening the lodge’s position throughout the metropolis’s inventive ecosystem.
From a enterprise standpoint, how do you measure the return on funding in cultural programming? Is the worth primarily reputational, or does it translate into measurable visitor engagement and income progress?
JF and KM: We measure ROI in cultural programming by each tangible metrics and intangible impression—and the 2 reinforce one another. Considerate artwork adjustments how individuals really feel in an area. Friends usually describe a right away sense of calm or connection, and we’ve already seen repeat visits as a result of the lodge looks like residence. Even for one-time company, we goal for the expertise to go away an enduring, private connection to San Diego’s tradition.
There’s additionally a mission-driven element: showcasing Southern California artists to a world viewers and fostering dialogue between worldwide and regional artists. When vacationers encounter the depth and variety of the inventive group right here, it elevates town’s cultural profile and positions the lodge as a spot that genuinely invests in its environment.
And it completely reveals up in measurable engagement. We’re seeing elevated social exercise, press protection, word-of-mouth momentum and deeper engagement from each locals and vacationers. Friends are posting in regards to the ambiance, writing about their expertise and looking for us out particularly as a result of artwork is a part of the lodge’s id. That visibility drives income progress, strengthens loyalty and helps the property’s long-term worth.
The Granger Lodge’s partnership with UC San Diego’s Stuart Assortment is among the many first of its type between a hospitality group and a college artwork assortment. What does such a institutional collaboration make potential {that a} conventional hotel-curator relationship won’t?
It might not be the very first, however it’s definitely with out precedent or roadmap—we’re innovating a brand new mannequin. This partnership elevates the cultural position of a lodge—as a curated group hub—in a manner a standard hotel-curator relationship merely can’t. San Diego has an extremely inventive and impressed group, but it’s usually overshadowed by bigger artwork hubs like L.A. and New York. By becoming a member of forces with UC San Diego’s Stuart Assortment—one of many nice public artwork collections—we’re shining a light-weight on the depth of tradition that already exists right here and giving it centered visibility.
As a substitute of working independently, the lodge turns into a part of an institutional ecosystem that has formed the area’s creative panorama. It permits us to take part in significant cultural manufacturing, not simply presentation, and to amplify the voices of artists working on the highest degree. By way of this collaboration, the Granger helps open a brand new chapter for town—one the place San Diego is acknowledged not only for its seashores and climate, however as a spot the place vital artwork is created, skilled and celebrated.
Kevin, how does integrating artwork and tradition on the basis of a property’s id affect design, growth timelines and general operational technique?
KM: It positively teaches us persistence. You possibly can’t rush the inventive course of in order for you it to really feel real. As a substitute of constructing a room after which discovering a portray to match the room design, we attempt to carry artists into the dialog earlier than the plans are even finalized. In some instances, the artists will go first to anchor the area and the remainder of the design follows.
It does prolong our timelines, however we view that further time as an funding within the constructing’s character. Operationally, it adjustments the position of our crew. They grow to be storytellers. We encourage our employees to have interaction with the artwork to allow them to share that enthusiasm with company. It makes the day-to-day operation really feel far more private and collaborative.
Jennifer, your curatorial strategy emphasizes the inventive course of over presentation. What does it imply for company—and the encircling group—to expertise artwork in progress moderately than as a completed product?
JF: For me, creative course of and visible presentation can’t be separated. Emphasizing the inventive course of means recognizing that the journey of creation and its experiments, natural shifts and moments of discovery in the end form an art work. By permitting company and the encircling group to witness and meaningfully have interaction with creative course of, we provide a depth of understanding that can’t be achieved by seeing solely the ultimate object in situ.
When individuals observe how an artist thinks, communicates, researches, sketches or checks supplies, the general public’s relationship to the work turns into actual, private and deeply significant. They join with the work on a definite and transcendent degree. It expands appreciation and creates a way of connection—not simply to the artwork itself, however to the artist as creator who’s a residing presence throughout the metropolis.
For the artists, creating on this setting means absorbing the vitality, panorama and tradition of the group as they work. These influences grow to be embedded within the closing piece, strengthening the cultural material of the area and contributing to town’s evolving inventive legacy. Experiencing artwork in progress transforms the lodge—and the broader group—into lively members in a piece that embodies the ethos of town.
There’s usually rigidity between creative autonomy and industrial imperatives. How do you strike a stability between creating real cultural impression and assembly the calls for of a luxurious hospitality model?
JF and KM: Luxurious hospitality and creative autonomy don’t should compete with one another; when approached with intention, they’ll meaningfully elevate each other. Luxurious environments usually form what company discover, respect and keep in mind. That visibility turns into a robust platform for artists—a possibility to share the depth of their tales, supplies and concepts with audiences who could not in any other case encounter their work in a standard white dice. When real creative rigor meets the requirements of a refined area, cultural depth and luxurious grow to be mutually reinforcing moderately than aggressive.
Most artists already navigate the stability between inventive exploration and the sensible realities of sustaining their follow. The industrial dimension isn’t inherently a compromise—it may be what allows them to maintain pushing boundaries. Our duty is to create circumstances the place that exploration can unfold authentically, whereas presenting the work in a manner that elevates each the artist and the hospitality expertise.
By giving artists a significant platform inside a luxurious setting, we show that formidable, conceptually wealthy work can dwell seamlessly in these environments. The stability comes from curating a story rooted in authenticity—connecting the art work to the lodge’s context, values and ambiance—and crafting a visible story that honors the artist’s integrity whereas enriching the visitor’s sense of place. In doing so, we invite viewers to experiment with the fact of residing with artwork: to think about what it might really feel like for a chunk to inhabit their very own area, their very own residence and to expertise the intimacy and impression that artwork can carry into on a regular basis life.
With The Guild and The Granger now working as cultural locations, how does Oram take into consideration scaling this mannequin with out dropping its site-specific authenticity?
JF and KM: We strategy each new location with a recent mindset. We all know we are able to’t simply copy and paste it into a brand new metropolis. That wouldn’t honor the brand new neighborhood.
Scaling for us means scaling our curiosity, not our aesthetic. We spend numerous time listening to the local people, assembly native artists and making an attempt to grasp what makes that particular neighborhood particular. Our purpose isn’t to import our model of tradition, however to focus on the unimaginable tradition that already exists proper there. We wish to be neighbor first, and a hotelier second.
The hospitality panorama is crowded with “art-forward” resorts. What distinguishes a very art-driven property from one utilizing artwork primarily as a branding instrument?
JF and KM: Whereas there’s definitely a rise in resorts that includes artwork, it’s necessary to tell apart between mere “ornament” and a deeply built-in creative expertise. Many properties incorporate artwork to sign status or create a visible id—however a very art-driven lodge embeds the art work into the visitor expertise itself and turns into an ongoing narrative.
On the Granger and The Guild Lodges, for instance, the collaboration with UC San Diego’s Stuart Assortment goes past aesthetics. Artwork isn’t simply on the partitions; it’s an funding in the neighborhood and turns into a part of these historic resorts’ identities and narratives. Items are thoughtfully chosen and positioned to impress engagement, spark dialog and supply a cultural expertise that resonates with the placement and the lodge’s ethos. The purpose isn’t simply to look “luxurious” or Instagram-worthy—it’s to supply an area the place the presence of artwork actively shapes how company understand and inhabit the setting.
In brief, it’s the distinction between artwork as a backdrop and artwork as an immersive lens by which the lodge expertise is curated.
Jennifer, as an artwork advisor, how do you strategy artist choice for a hospitality setting? What components matter most: conceptual rigor, viewers engagement or how the work interacts with the structure itself?
JF: In deciding on work for Oram Lodges, I’m all the time asking: “What’s the art work’s potential—in its idea, its context and its capability to rework each area and viewer?” For this 12 months, beneath the theme “border,” we centered on artists whose practices interrogate thresholds and the liminal—materials, geographic, cultural, sensory. Their works don’t merely adorn partitions; they exist in dialogue with the location, the group and the unseen contours between relationships, human expertise, land, lived realities and the advanced narratives that outline our area. We wished to have interaction with the concept of “border” each as idea and as expertise, embracing inherent tensions, its potential and its limits.
For instance, in addition to showcasing the work of Max Hooper Schneider, because the inaugural rising artist for the Stuart Assortment, the primary exhibition, “Every thing Touches,” highlights ten regional artists (Yomar Augusto, Victoria Fu, Denja Harris, Josh Herman, Jeremy Priola, Walter Redondo, Georgina Reskala, Matt Wealthy, Reinhart Selvik, Lizzie Zelter) and celebrates the power that emerges when artwork considers distinction—textures, supplies, concepts and people—and demonstrates how connection can come up throughout perceived boundaries. The result’s a residing dialog between artwork, structure and group. We’re dedicated to inviting artists, each well-established and rising, who resist static definitions—whose items problem boundaries, invite encounter or shift our sense of place. In doing so, we permit every visitor to enter an area the place distinction turns into connection. We consider border not as a barricade however a myriad of risk. Balancing all these parts ensures that Oram Lodges turns into greater than a spot to remain—it turns into an inclusive, partaking and immersive setting the place artwork, group and structure intersect.
From a visitor’s perspective, how does this mannequin reshape what it means to “keep” someplace? Are we shifting towards resorts that double as cultural establishments?
JF and KM: Journey at this time is more and more about connection—partaking with the tradition and inventive id of a spot moderately than merely looking for escape. In resorts that prioritize curated artwork and genuine exhibitions, like we’re doing, the expertise of staying turns into one thing nearer to shifting by a residing gallery. Friends encounter works in a manner that feels intimate and natural, extra akin to being inside an exhibition than passing by a industrial setting. The lodge turns into an extension of the establishment, providing an area the place artwork will not be solely displayed however thoughtfully contextualized and deeply felt.
As resorts grow to be platforms for cultural expression, they start to function in parallel with cultural establishments and galleries, like we’re doing with the Stuart Assortment partnership. This creates a singular type of entry level for the artist: one primarily based on lived expertise moderately than rarified remark. Friends aren’t simply viewing tradition—they’re inhabiting it. And in that sense, Oram Lodges and JFiN Collective are shifting towards a imaginative and prescient of resorts that double as cultural establishments, locations the place hospitality, artistry and native id converge to create a deeper, extra resonant understanding of a spot.
Because the boundaries between artwork, design and expertise proceed to blur, what tendencies do you see shaping the following decade of art-led hospitality?
JF and KM: Some of the significant tendencies shaping the following decade of art-led hospitality is a transfer away from counting on marquee names, mounted “funding” collections, or one-off commissions and towards an ongoing, evolving narrative formed by artists and craftspeople whose work displays the character and pulse of a spot. As a substitute of counting on an art-market guidelines, resorts are starting to domesticate residing relationships with regional and consultant makers—creating area for brand new voices to emerge and for the story of the property to shift over time.
This displays a broader cultural shift: collectors and vacationers are looking for experiences that really feel grounded, particular and human. They wish to encounter work that carries the authenticity of its origins—the fingers that made it, the traditions that inform it, the panorama or neighborhood that formed it. On this context, art-led hospitality turns into much less about spectacle and extra about sustained dialogue.
We predict the longer term lies in hospitality areas that function as cultural ecosystems—the place artists usually are not merely put in however repeatedly engaged, and the place their evolving practices assist form the id of the property over months and years. Lodges and their company grow to be cultural members moderately than cultural shoppers, providing environments which might be refreshed and reimagined by ongoing collaboration and exhibition.
On this mannequin, artwork doesn’t merely embellish an area; it animates it. And company aren’t simply observers—they step right into a shared, ever-evolving story that displays the depth, range and authenticity of the area itself.
