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22 October, 2018

This hotel chain will let you spray paint their walls for the rest of the year

Did you ever draw on the walls as a toddler and get punished? Well, you won’t at these hotels.

Because Art Series Hotels are actually encouraging you to draw on the walls!

But not just any walls: a specifically white-washed room (and with a spray can and paintbrushes rather than a permanent marker).

From October 15 to December 30, one room at The Blackman, The Johnson and The Olsen hotels will be transformed into a collective canvas as part of a participatory art project.

Famed for daring campaigns inspired by the latest trends in art and travel, Colour Your Stay will rely on guests to help create an ever-changing mural and become part of the shared experience.

The collaborative art project follows the award-winning No Robe campaign, which boldly asked Art Series guests to strip nude and strike a pose, and the mischievous Steal Banksy that encouraged art theft.

A pioneer of the Australian street art and stencil movement, Luke Cornish (aka ELK) will lead the project for Art Series. In a nod to each of the hotel’s namesake artist, he will create a different artwork at each hotel; a portrait of John Olsen, Charles Blackman and Michael Johnson, that guests are called on to complete.

BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA - OCTOBER 12: Behind the scenes with Luke Cornish at The Johnson in Spring Hill for Art Series Hotels' ?Colour Your Stay? campaign on October 12, 2018 in Brisbane, Australia. The campaign launches on October (Photo by Chris Hyde/Getty Images for Art Series Hotels)

Upon check in hotel staff will share instructions and guests can register to participate. A mixture of spray cans and paint brushes, a gown, mask and gloves will be available for guests to use in the room, with each person given two minutes to unleash the artist within. And let’s be honest; this is basically everyone’s childhood dream come true.

Transgressing the ‘look but don’t touch’ restriction of conventional gallery culture, the stark white interior will be transformed over time as hundreds of collaborators leave their mark.

Cornish said he was thrilled to be involved with the campaign – and is looking forward to the end results.

“I’m thrilled to be working with Art Series Hotels on Colour Your Stay. Their dedication to supporting urban art and all of its wonderful satellite genres is a passion I share and I’m really excited to see what we create together with guests,” he said.

With contemporary artists increasingly involving the public to help create their work – think Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama’s Obliteration Room or Measuring the Universe by Slovakian Roman Ondák – Colour Your Stay also relies on guests to participate. Which shouldn’t be too hard, if you ask us.

Famed American photographer Spencer Tunick recently lured 1000 people for a large-scale nude installation at a supermarket in the middle of a Melbourne winter, which highlights the public’s desire to take part in unique interactive installations.

“Supporting the arts and delivering unique art inspired experiences for our guests that are personal and bold sits at the core of the Art Series Hotels brand,” Director of Marketing Ryan Tuckerman said.

“This exciting campaign celebrates the growing art movement that directly engages the audience in the creative process and explores all manners of self-expression.”

Cornish was the first ever stencil artist to be named a finalist in both the Archibald Portrait Prize and Sulman Prize. He uses up to 85 layers of carefully hand-cut acetate in each work. He then sprays layer upon layer of aerosol paint until his images bear a striking photographic resemblance in a new form of hyper-realism.

He will officially launch the campaign and unveil his artwork at The Olsen in South Yarra on October 15. His latest exhibition (In)appropriate will open at the Metro Gallery, Armadale on October 4.

Guests who share a photo on Instagram with the tag #colouryourstay will go in the draw to win a night on Art Series plus a signed ELK drawing.

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Email the Travel Weekly team at traveldesk@travelweekly.com.au

art series hotels Luke Cornish The Blackman The Johnson The Olsen