Earlier this year, a new dimension of the residence owner experience was introduced through the “art & design” element of ONVIA, Marriott International’s owner recognition platform. The initiative’s inaugural expression—the Emerging Artists Program—provides a curated window into the work of some of today’s most compelling new voices in contemporary art, delivered straight to an audience of sophisticated tastemakers and collectors.
“The Emerging Artist Program is rooted in the belief that true luxury is found in discovery, in encountering work before it is widely known, and in forming a personal connection to the story behind it,” wrote John Hearns, senior vice president of global residential operations at Marriott International, in a note to residence owners. “By spotlighting emerging artists, ONVIA invites owners to engage with creativity at its most formative stage, where collecting becomes an expression of identity and participation in an artist’s journey becomes part of one’s own.”
The program was spearheaded by acclaimed British multimedia artist and curator Emma Elliott, and developed in partnership with creative agency Brave New World. “I found the focus on giving other artists visibility very compelling,” says Elliott, whose own practice spans sculpture, painting, and video. In her research, she spoke with art advisors, journalists, residents, and her own connections within the international artist community to explore their recommendations.
Her criteria included artists who might not yet be represented by a gallery and whose work could function in a residential space—not to mention art that could translate beautifully on the ONVIA platform. “Ultimately, the top consideration was finding works that I thought were really strong,” Elliott says. “They needed to be elevated beyond just being purely decorative, with a story and a background that made you feel something.”
The artists carefully selected by Elliott for the launch of the program are Rio de Janeiro–based painter Carolina Martinez, whose background in architecture informs her colorful explorations of urban space through shape and texture; Ayobola Kekere-Ekun, a Nigerian artist now based in South Africa who excels in quilling, a painstaking technique of shaping thin strips of paper into dense sculptural compositions; and Courtney Heather, an American painter whose crowded canvases investigate the details of everyday ritual. Owners can hear Elliott discuss the pieces in videos on ONVIA for immediate input from her discerning curatorial eye, as well as glimpse some of Elliott’s own recent works in sculpture and paint.
While the Emerging Artists Program is still emerging itself, Elliott is enthusiastic about the ways the initiative could expand in the future, from artist events and lobby shows to direct conversations (and potential investments) between residence owners and artists. “It’s all about connections and collaboration,” she says.
