Why Hotels Are Starting Artists-in-residence Programs

As more hotels make an effort to engage with their communities, some are offering space and funding to foster local artists.

Courtesy of Àni Private Resorts Jettana Yamter, a student at Àni Art Academy, on Thailand’s Koh Yoi Noi.

A man is suspended by a harness from a towering tree in the cloud forest of Costa Rica. He twists and contorts his body, moving through the leaves and branches — a new way of interacting with this rich ecosystem.

It’s part of a multimedia piece choreographed by the Costa Rican art collective Wimblu — the culmination of a two-week residency at Hotel Belmar, a sustainable 26-room retreat in the mountains outside Monteverde. Wimblu’s members connected with the dancer, a local artist named Mario Rivera Camacho, during their time on property. “Hotel Belmar creates this atmosphere that allows you to slow down,” Wimblu cofounder Alessandra Baltodano Estrada later reflected. “This opens up the mind to create.”

Courtesy of Hotel Belmar Hotel Belmar, a boutique property in Monteverde, Costa Rica, that has an artists’ residency program.

Around the world, hotels are getting into the art game — not only opening galleries and displaying one-of-a-kind works but also offering a gathering place for creative collaboration. At Hotel Belmar — whose manager, Pedro Belmar, previously worked at MoMA in New York City — those selected for residency are provided room, board, and sometimes a stipend, depending on need.

Other hotels offer their own twists on the residency experience. Andaz Maui at Wailea Resort provides gallery space to artist-in-residence Welzie, who in turn offers classes for guests. There have been more than 30 participants in an ongoing program at Park Hotel Tokyo that invites creatives to stay at the hotel and personalize a room of their choosing — with some painting directly on the walls.

Alessandra Baltodano/Courtesy of Hotel Belmar A digital-assembly piece by the Wimblu collective created during their residency at Belmar.

Tim Reynolds, founder of Àni Private Resorts, became a dedicated painter after a near-fatal accident. His collection of staffed exclusive-use retreats (in Anguilla, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and the Dominican Republic) has a sister nonprofit, Àni Art Academies, where prospective students can apply for multiyear fine-art courses held near each resort — all funded by company proceeds.

Back in Costa Rica, Belmar notes that projects like this are enriching not only for artists but also staff, community, and guests. “When you travel, it’s easy to miss the cultural context,” he says. “Maybe this is an introduction.”

A version of this story first appeared in the April 2023 issue of Travel + Leisure under the headline “A Fresh Canvas.”

Read the original article on Travel & Leisure.