In the  winter of 2007, Manhattan’s prestigious Jumeirah Essex House unveiled stunning new artwork in the hotel’s newly redesigned lobby as part of their new “artists-in-residence” program created and developed by the hotel’s curator, Katherine Gass.  The hotel is uniquely situated at the southern base of New York City’s revered Central Park, an internationally renowned and beloved urban oasis right in the heart of midtown Manhattan.  The renovation of such a historic hotel called for a fresh approach to the artwork within. 

Katherine Gass, the Jumeirah Essex House’s curator, proposed an art program that celebrated Central Park’s magnificence in art – with two very special commissioned works created by noted Korean photographer Atta Kim and renowned American contemporary urban landscape painter, Mark Innerst.  Both Mr. Kim and Mr. Innerst researched their individual projects at the hotel last fall and developed their artwork based on their own artistic and creative interpretations of the hotel and its environment.

Designed in 1858 by Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux, Central Park has welcomed millions of visitors from around the world into its verdant embrace as a place to connect to nature, restore, relax, and repair from life’s demands.  To best accomplish the mission of bringing Central Park and its environs into the Jumeirah Essex House, Gass and the hotel management team commissioned two internationally known artists to create major works for the lobby.   Artists were invited to reside in the hotel as part of their research.   “The essence of this historic building and its relationship to Central Park needed to be experienced by the artists, who were thrilled by the idea of staying on-property”, said Gass.  The intention is to initiate an evergreen series of “Artists in Residence” programs at Jumeirah Essex House.