21c Museum Hotels

The 21c Museum features permanent installations and special exhibitions of works by artists, including Bill Viola, Tony Oursler, Andres Serrano, Sam Taylor-Wood, David Levinthal, Yyinka Shonibare, Judy Fox, Chuck Close, Alfredo Jaar, David Herbert, Daan Roosegaarde, Anastasia Schipani, Kara Walker and Serkan Özkaya (David).

The museum also displays a number of original site-specific commissions, including:

• Untitled (2006) by Werner Reiterer, the artist's first permanent public sculpture in the U.S.
• In the Absence of Voyeurism 6 & 7 (2000–2006) by artist and surgeon Sean Bidic
• Cloud Rings (2006) by MacArthur Fellow Ned Kahn
• Red Penguin (2005) by Cracking Art Group
• Arilated: The 21c Pip Mobile (2005–2007) by Monica Mahoney
• Text Rain (1999) by Camille Utterback and Romy Achituv
• Sculptures from the Satyrs Daughters 1999 series and Figure 2004 series by Judy Fox
• Flow 5.0 (2013) by Daan Roosegaarde
• Echo (2017) by Heather Gordon and Justin Tornow

The Louisville location renovated five 19th century tobacco and bourbon warehouse buildings listed on the National Register of Historic Places to house the museum, hotel, and its restaurant. It is located within the city's arts and theater district along "Museum Row," which is home to the Louisville Slugger Museum and Factory, the Muhammad Ali Center, the Frazier History Museum, the Kentucky Museum of Art and Craft, and the Kentucky Science Center. This location has a restaurant named Proof on Main, which was named one of "Best New Restaurants 2006" by Esquire magazine.[5] The menu features ingredients from local farms and food purveyors, as well as 50 types of bourbon.[6] Located outside the establishment stands The Statue of David, a double-size, golden replica of Michelangelo's David, created by Turkish artist, Serkan Özkaya.[7] Originally a project for the Istanbul Biennial art exhibition, David unfortunately collapsed under his own weight. Özkaya salvaged and restored the statue and created two more casts, one of which was acquired by 21c Museum Hotels.[8]

The facility was designed by Deborah Berke & Partners Architects, for which they won the American Institute of Architects Kentucky Honor Award in 2011,[9] the AIA NYS Excellence for Historic Preservation/Adaptive Reuse in 2007,[10] and the Best of Year Award for Hospitality Design, Interior Design Magazine, in 2006.[11]

The Cincinnati location involved the complete renovation of the historic Hotel Metropole, a grand building that's most previous use was section 8 apartments for low income residents. $48 million was spent on the renovation.

The third location in Bentonville opened in 2013. The museum hotel is a small walk away from the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art. The hotel is located on land that was once a corn field outside of the urban center of Bentonville.[12]

The Bentonville location was named one of the top 15 hotels in the US by Travel + Leisure Magazine in 2017.[13]

In March 2015 21c opened its fourth hotel in Durham, North Carolina.[14] In 2013 the company bought the historic Hill Building for $5.25 million. With an investment of $48 million the Hill Building was renovated and converted into a hotel with 125 rooms.[15][16] The hotel is centrally located in Downtown Durham and is a short walk from the Durham Bulls Stadium, the DPAC and the Carolina Theater.

In February 2016 the Lexington hotel opened in the Fayette National Bank (aka First National Bank) building. [17][18]

In June 2016 21c opened a hotel in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma in the Fred Jones Assembly Plant built in 1915, where the Ford Model T was assembled.[19][20] The hotel has been to Travel + Leisure magazine’s 2017 It List of Best New Hotels Around the World, as one of 44 best new and radically redone hotels and resorts around the world of the past year.[21]

In May 2017 the Nashville hotel opened in the historic Gray & Dudley building in downtown.[22]

In July 2018 the group opened their 120 suite and gallery hotel in Kansas City, Missouri inside the historic Savoy Hotel and Grill [23]

In February 2020 21c opened a hotel in Chicago, Illinois renovating The James Hotel in Chicago's River North Gallery District.[24] With 297 rooms and over 10,000 square feet of exhibition and meeting space, this marks the largest 21c property to date. [25][26]

Additional properties are in active development. A location in St. Louis, Missouri [27] and Des Moines, Iowa are expected to complete in the next two years.[28]

The company had been looking to open a hotel in Indianapolis in the old city hall, with construction scheduled to begin in 2017, however these plans were scrapped at the end of March 2017 due to problems with financing.[29] 21c Museum Hotels will still be seeking to open a location in the city.