JEFRË

So if architects would like to know how to collaborate with artists more, um, to help elevate the build environment, what advice would you give them?

I think it's interesting because this is just my personal view in being in the architecture world.

There's very, architects are very pragmatic and do very functional buildings, and then, uh, exterior is more essentially based on design code and whatever the local vernacular is, right? There's other architects that love to kind of be the jewel in the city or the jewel in the box where that piece becomes, like, not in the standard architectural [laughs] design guideline.

For me, like, working with an artist for me brings life and culture and soul inside buildings that maybe not necessarily we're all trained to do.

It's kinda like hiring interior designer to do FF&E when you come in and do furniture.

Mm-hmm.

Sometimes we'll bring in, uh, we'll be brought in as sort of as an art curator.

I'll probably do that one piece that helps brand the building, and then we'll come in and help kinda outfit series of works of art in, inside the building.

For example, I'm working on a project with Advent Health, a big hospital system where, you know, working with the interior designer.

They gave me a certain budget, and I said within this budget curate a series of works by other well-known, established artists so that then if they've been exhibiting museum or gallery, the work is actually in the hospital in the public areas.

And then they would actually have a, a name, a name of the artist, just kinda like similar to how you would go to museum.

And the beauty about that is is that that same budget is the same budget that the interior designer woulda had to go in and buy something from a catalog, right?

Mm-hmm.

And so this then brings another soul and culture to the building that maybe architects didn't realize they could have done, and another layer.

So, you know, we're not only doing a opening, a topping out party and a building opening for the hospital, but then we're actually doing a walking art tour.

It's another value in this premise-

Mm-hmm

... with the art.

We were looking at Advent as it was sorta this idea of art and healing, obviously, right? And so that also brings value to the project, right? So there's actually-

Mm-hmm

... opportunities where some of the works that we've selected actually are in- increasing in value, unlike something out of a catalog, [laughs] right?

There you go.

But then now it's part of the c- um, the hospital system's collection-

Mm-hmm

... which is a great way to kinda collaborate with artists.