PROJECT SPOTLIGHT
W New York
Union Square
Photography by Michael Kleinberg
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In 2001, the W opened its doors on Union Square with interiors by Rockwell Group. This was just the beginning of a now 25-year-old partnership between the award-winning design group and the prestigious hotel brand. Our Hospitality Art Advisors were invited to join this legacy when Rockwell Group came to Chief Curator and VP of Art Advisory Rebecca Wilson to curate a custom art program for W New York – Union Square’s dramatic redesign.
The building W calls home was erected in the ornate, classical French Beaux-Arts style, but its location just off Union Square is unmistakably New York City. Defined by constant reinvention, it has served as a revolving door of culture, a crossroads of communities, and a stage for self-expression. That contrast is the foundation of Rockwell Group’s design direction and the jumping-off point for our team, who leaned into eclecticism and high energy to tie it all together.
The hotel’s living room was envisioned as an immersive space that mirrors Union Square’s flux of people and ideas. Saatchi Art commissioned a site-specific film by new media artist Oscar Zabala, capturing the city’s diversity in constant motion.
As guests move through the corridors they encounter Carmine Santaniello’s Neo-Expressionist collages and Susan Washington’s Subway Sonnets. Beginning in the city’s subways as a dialogue between artist and environment, graffiti and street art are deeply embedded in the cultural zeitgeist. New York greats like Jean-Michel Basquiat brought graffiti’s freewheeling vigor to canvas through the lens of Neo-Expressionism. In the W, Carmine and Susan’s abstracts are autobiographical. They hold memories of the city’s grit, artistic legacy, and humanity through layers of spray paint, script, and stickers.
This spirit carries into the guestrooms, where limited-edition prints by Stephen J. Powers—aka ESPO “Exterior Surface Painting Outreach”—bring the movement indoors. A legendary local graffiti artist who helped develop the art style, Stephen creates prints that channel that same rebellious energy in bold, graphic forms.
In a city where change is the only constant, one thing holds true: bold art and design embrace tradition and transformation. Together, Saatchi Art’s curation and Rockwell Group’s narrative-rich vision cement W New York – Union Square as the hotel brand’s dynamic new global flagship.
Please contact us at trade@saatchiart.com if you’d like to work with our advisory team for any hospitality, luxury residential, commercial, and healthcare projects—we’d love to hear from you!