Media Contact: Kate Buska, Public Relations Director
503-548-9399, kate@provenancehotels.com

Media Contact: Tess Burick, PR & Marketing Manager

503-953-1237, tess@provenancehotels.com

the old no 77 hotel & chandlery welcomes SUMMER 2017 artist in Residence
Studio room crafted by Doorman Designs to house Chicago Artist then be available for guests.

June 26, 2017 – NEW ORLEANS, La. – The wrought iron balconies, vibrant-hued neighborhoods and weathered facades that champion the uncommon beauty of New Orleans have borne witness to nearly 300 summers on the crescent of the Mississippi River. Historic in its own right, The Old No. 77 Hotel & Chandlery in the Warehouse Arts District is bringing back its Artist in Residence program for its second summer, inviting Chicago-based artist Kate Lewis to take up residence at the former 1854 warehouse hotel while she illustrates the historic structures of New Orleans and contextualizes the buildings within the collected stories of its locals. As The Old No. 77 Hotel & Chandlery's Artist in Residence, Lewis will live at the hotel free of charge throughout the month of July, during which time she'll produce a collection of completed works for an exhibition show over White Linen Night on August 5, 2017.      

Debuting in conjunction with Lewis' residency, the Old No. 77 Hotel & Chandlery has transformed one of its guestrooms into a permanent artist studio designed by Alex Geriner, the founding craftsman behind Doorman Designs – a local furniture company sharing the grit and history of New Orleans through found materials repurposed for contemporary living.

Lewis will take up residence in the Studio, where Geriner's team of talented artists has transformed the guestroom with a lofted bed fit with a sculptural handrail made in-house and a built-in workspace.  Custom-made accent shelves sourced from reclaimed wood and Doorman Design's rustic Franklin Dresser made from Louisiana cypress and ashwood of the Mississippi Delta complete the remodeled Studio that will live on permanently at the hotel as a bookable guestroom following Lewis' residency.

Hailing from Chicago, Lewis first discovered a love for southern culture while aiding in the aftermath of the BP oil spill in Louisiana in 2010. Originally born and raised in West Palm Beach, Florida, Lewis is a “YES” person who found herself hardwired to think in terms of numbers, angles, geometry and perspective after several years spent studying accounting at the University of Florida. Eventually siding with a passion for traveling and earning a degree in Travel & Tourism, Lewis began carrying blank postcard paper, pens and a small watercolor set to capture the places she wanted to remember. Putting the places she encountered within a human context of feeling, thought and emotion, Lewis remarked on the moments and structures she illustrated through her writings – perhaps better thought of as love letters. 

“When I noticed I was resonating with architecture and began exploring with pen and ink on a larger scale, I started applying the mental mathematical principles I learned as a businesswoman to pay homage to the places I had grown to love in Chicago that were disappearing left and right as I witnessed gentrification from the eye of the storm,” said Lewis.

As the Old No. 77 Hotel & Chandlery's second Artist in Residence, Lewis' large-scale black and white illustrations will fuse art and architecture with the spaces that hold significant meaning to the community, allowing her art to be guided by the stories of New Orleans' locals that she meets throughout her residency. All month long, Lewis will post about her adventures and preview works she's creating on the hotel's Instagram account - @Old77Hotel – using the hashtag #77ResidentArtist – and on Aug. 5, 2017, she will debut her completed works in the lobby gallery of the Old No. 77 Hotel & Chandlery during White Linen Night.

Lewis' work can be viewed at www.katelynnlewis.com and more information about the Old No. 77 Hotel & Chandlery can be found at www.old77hotel.com.

The Old No. 77 Hotel & Chandlery introduced its Artist in Residence program in summer 2016, inviting TJ Kiser, a student artist from the Art Institute of Chicago, to debut as the Warehouse District hotel's first residing out of town artist.

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About The Old No. 77 Hotel & Chandlery
Located in the Warehouse Arts District – just three blocks from the French Quarter and a short stroll from the Convention Center – the 167-room Old No. 77 Hotel & Chandlery features art from the New Orleans Center for the Creative Arts and Where Y'Art; a Chandlery retail space featuring items from New Orleans makers; award-winning cuisine from Chef Nina Compton at Compere Lapin and Tout La; free Wi-Fi; and Provenance Hotels' signature Pillow and Spiritual menus. The Old No. 77 Hotel & Chandlery can be found online at www.old77hotel.com.

About Provenance Hotels
Headquartered in Portland, Ore., Provenance Hotels develops award-winning urban boutique hotels with a distinct and deeply integrated art story. The portfolio includes Hotel deLuxe, Hotel Lucia and Sentinel in Portland, Ore., Hotel Max in Seattle, Wash., Hotel Murano in Tacoma, Wash., Hotel Preston in Nashville, Tenn. and the Old No. 77 Hotel & Chandlery in New Orleans, La. Provenance Hotels will open Hotel Theodore in Seattle in fall 2016 and can be found online at www.provenancehotels.com.