The Old No. 77 Hotel & Chandlery—a historic art-centric hotel in New Orleans’ Warehouse Art District—debuted three new Artist Loft Suites curated by three artists from the Where Y’art gallery on Royal Street in the Marigny: Kate Hanrahan, Connor McManus and Leroy Miranda Jr.
Each suite now has décor and accessories personally crafted by the artist. The art pieces may also be purchased by the guests, and when guests purchase a work from one of the hotel’s Artist Loft Suites, the artist will replace it with a new work so these suites will evolve and change over time.
Kate Hanrahan has spent almost the last decade as an artist and art teacher in New Orleans. Originally from Philadelphia, Hanrahan exhibited work in Atlanta, Savannah, Boston, New York and New Orleans, as well as internationally in Canada and France. In 2014 she was part of ExhibitBE in New Orleans, which became known as the largest single-site street art exhibit in the American South. Hanrahan is a mural and mixed-media artist working in painting, paper cut-outs, photography and installation.
For the Artist Loft Suite, she curated at the Old No. 77 Hotel & Chandlery, her pieces include "Metamorphosis" and "Anhinga" where giant birds seem to shift through and become part of the represented figures. Her work is accented with antique and earthy accessories like a sheepskin rug, large plants and different textiles.
The suite also features a bench made by local artisan Theodore Noggle, as well as upcycled lamps by New Orleans-based artist collective Junk Evangelist.
A native of Lafayette, Connor McManus is a graphic and architectural designer in New Orleans. McManus has shown his work in galleries in Rhode Island, Mississippi and throughout Louisiana. His approach combines photography, collage, graphic design and painting. In the Artist Loft Suite that McManus curated at the Old No. 77 Hotel & Chandlery, his pieces include "Point Reyes Trail" and "Up the Slough." McManus paired these works with modern accessories, such as the Sputnik Chandelier, the Sauder Cocktail table and white, blue and grey rugs and curtains.
Born and raised in New Orleans and the adjacent countryside, Leroy Miranda Jr. is a self-taught artist. Miranda explores the themes of culture and identity in works that can be found in over a dozen private collections and the L.S.U. University Medical Center public collection. At the property, his work includes two-dimensional paintings, one of which, “General Zod,” is a companion piece to “King Pin”, a sculpture that is an interpretation of the unknown and a message of self-discovery. Miranda accented the room with smaller three-dimensional items, rugs, specialized lighting and a hand-worked bench.
The 167-room Old No. 77 Hotel & Chandlery is located in the Warehouse Arts District, three blocks from the French Quarter and near the Convention Center.
