Client: The Cellars Luxury Apartments
Location: San Antonio, TX, United States
Completion date: 2017
Project Team
Artist
Diana Kersey
Artist
Carlos Betancourt
Artist
William Carrington
Artist
Jenelle Esparza
Artist
Luiz Jimenez
Artist
Xavier Garza
Artist
Paula Cox
Artist
Susan Davidoff
Artist
Jerry Stringham
Art Consultant
Alice Carrington Foultz
Overview
The Cellars luxury apartments are the result of collaboration between San Antonio-based architect Doc McDonald and Dallas-based Three: Living Architecture firm. Their design is an appreciation of South Texas aesthetic. McDonald’s interior design evokes a South Texas/Spanish “refined ranch” aesthetic. The ground floor community spaces include native stone, mission tile, reclaimed brick, and hardwood longleaf pine floors salvaged in Indianola. The Cellars 122 apartments range in size from intimate one-bedrooms to loft spaces to spacious penthouses. Apartment sizes start at 650 square feet for a one-bedroom and go all the way to 3,986 square feet for a penthouse.
Goals
The goal of curator Alice Carrington Foultz for the Cellars art collection was to capture the culture and themes formed around San Antonio’s unique ethos. “This ethos is influenced by our local flora and fauna, historic architecture, Mexican and German heritage, and urban growth,” Foultz said. These themes have been captured in a variety of mediums including stone and woodcarvings, ceramics, photography, printmaking, and textiles. The common areas of Cellars and other spaces include Southern and American art selected by Foultz. All the commissioned works are site-specific and include artists from San Antonio, Houston, El Paso, Durango, and Miami. Local artists were commissioned to create sculptures of Otto and Emma Koehler to pay homage to the historic Pearl Brewery’s past. Additionally, Foultz and her team worked with The Witte Museum to research and recreate historic maps of San Antonio, which are installed in the Cellars conference room, creating a sense of place and as a reference to the city’s rich history.
Process
As we discussed this project with the architectural team, we were able to create a vision for the project that highlights San Antonio’s local flora and fauna, historic architecture, Mexican and German heritage and urban growth. Lisa Garcia, owner of LJG art appraisal and Alice Carrington Foultz were brought in to serve as curators and project oversight for the site-specific art collection. Antiques and textiles were collected from Silverton Colorado, San Antonio, Austin, San Miguel de Allende and Berlin. Vintage Mexican pottery is placed on a serape-covered tabletop and installed high up on the community kitchen wall. German dirndls and lederhosen are framed in shadow boxes as homage to San Antonio’s German heritage. Early and essential lightening rods make reference to the constant necessity of rainfall in our state. Glazed ceramic plates decorated with flora and fauna of our region adorn the high walls of the Cellars.