BY THE BOOK

ONE FOR THE BOOKS

Reading into The Ellison’s striking ‘Reader’ mural

BY ADI MCCASLAND PHOTOS BY CHARLIE NEUENSCHWANDER

Alaina Hunt was already on the Cooper House branding team for The Ellison Hotel when she landed “The Reader” — an easily recognizable art installation on the first floor of Oklahoma City’s newest boutique hotel.

The Ellison’s interior designers had three criteria in mind: a local piece of art, an impactful piece of art and a bookshelf. “Oklahoma City is becoming known for its murals, right?” Hunt suggested. “What if we did a bookshelf mural?”

Cooper House founders Tim and Erin Cooper, also artists, both recognized the idea’s profundity and realized the value in giving Hunt the opportunity to execute it.

Hunt, a graduate of the University of Oklahoma’s Studio Art program and designer at Cooper House, got to work. She drafted her ideas, gathered a team of people and ordered a few thousand books to create the foundation for her vision of this one impactful mural: E pluribus unum. Out of many, one.

While the colors were chosen with purpose and the installation overall is not without great meaning, only two of the 2,970 books that make up this creation aren’t random. “It would’ve been cool if we were able to choose them all, but there were just so many,” explained Hunt.

What were those intentionally selected books? The first title chosen was The Old Man and the Sea, a nod to a coworker who was a pivotal part of The Ellison’s branding

Artist Alaina Hunt

I think that I was really just kind of trying to hide myself and make art a certain way, because I didn’t feel like what I wanted to do was relevant; but anything anyone wants to do is relevant. You just have to contextualize.”

process before passing away earlier in 2022. The second was, of course, Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison, Oklahoma’s most celebrated author and namesake for the hotel itself.

Hunt will tell you that this was the pivotal moment in her success as an artist. As creatives tend to do — as humans tend to do — she spent too much time “shoulding” on herself before cultivating the type of courage that paved the path of authenticity and allowed her to really reach others.

When asked to elaborate, she smiled and held her chin a little higher. “I think that I was really just kind of trying to hide myself

“The Reader” inside The Ellison Hotel consists of 2,970 books.

and make art a certain way, because I didn’t feel like what I wanted to do was relevant; but anything anyone wants to do is relevant. You just have to contextualize,” she said, mirroring the protagonist’s cognizance in Ellison’s Invisible Man.

“What and how much had I lost by trying to do only what was expected of me instead of what I myself had wished to do?”

Hunt’s unrelenting mission is artistic impact. She, like most creatives, chose art in order to connect — with herself, with others, with her work — and create a visual narrative of the world as she experiences it. “I really just strive to communicate and relate with people in unexpected ways, to engage people’s curiosity as much as possible.”

“The Reader” feels like opportunity. It feels like bravery, freedom, unity. It is a visual representation that out of many, oneness is possible.

M

MEANINGFUL FAMILY TRADITIONS and simple-but-beautiful decorations give Amanda Layton a sense of peace when Christmastime arrives. The Oklahoma City home stylist starts decorating for her favorite holiday in November and focuses more on adding natural winter touches throughout her home rather than a big splash of extravagant decorations.

“I keep all the same things out, but I just add the winter greens to it. It’s really easy and inexpensive to make it feel festive without buying a bunch of Christmas stuff. I love Christmas. But I like simplicity,” Layton said. “I do tend to keep it more minimal because it’s just so overwhelming.”

A bowl of pine cones. Simply decorated trees with lights in different rooms. Old garlands spruced up with living greenery to add a fresh smell and a fresh look. Spruces of greenery placed on a tray on a table. She especially enjoys an undecorated Christmas tree adorned with white lights.

“To me there’s nothing better at Christmas than coming home, [and] lighting a fire with the Christmas tree on. That’s my favorite Christmas thing ever.”

Her Christmas reflects the home she has lived in for the last eight years with her husband Dustin and their two boys, ages 9 and 13. Early in her career, Layton was a licensed professional nurse and then a registered nurse. But with young children and a husband who traveled extensively for his work as a cattle auctioneer, she found it too hard to maintain a grueling and somewhat unpredictable nursing schedule. She ultimately returned to doing what she realized came naturally: transforming homes.

Growing up, Layton was always rearranging her room, saving her money to buy furniture or items for her room and making sure her living spaces looked just how she wanted them. Her sister, Layton said, is artistic and can draw and paint, talents that Amanda said she didn’t have.

TOP: The formal living room includes sweet personal touches, like the family photos on the wall.

Naturally textured woven shades, buttressed by simple linen curtains on the sides, allow sunlight to shine on the festive holiday touches in the breakfast nook.

Just off the sun porch, the formal living room includes a custom coffee table by Graeber Design in Edmond, light fixture from Wayfair and rug from Loloi Rugs.

During renovations, the Laytons had their sun porch enclosed to make it useable all year. Layton likes to use mirrors, like the round one pictured here, as inexpensive statement pieces.

“My passion was always decorating,” Layton said, adding that her mom would always tell her she was artistic in her own way.

In 2017, Layton was painting trim in her home and visiting with her neighbor, a realtor, who asked her to help stage a home she wanted to sell. A “lightbulb went off,” she said, and a new business was born — Layton Designs. Today she helps builders, home flippers and others stage homes, and she works with individuals who are remodeling or building. At the time, there weren’t many home-stagers in Oklahoma City.

For the last eight years, one of her projects has been her own home, one element at a time. When the Laytons bought the house, every room was a different color, and there was a lot of it — plus, it was decorated in a unique style that didn’t match her family’s, she said. Over the years, the Laytons transformed their 4,000-square-foot, four-bedroom home in Edmond’s Cumberland Crossing subdivision into one filled with natural materials, calming colors and a lot of memories with their boys. She’s in the process of doing it again, as she and her husband are currently transferring to a new home.

“My life is so crazy in general, and that’s why I like simplicity and neutrals,” Layton said, explaining that neutrals “are calming. My mind goes thousands of directions every day, and I like it to feel serene.”

She accessorizes with fun finds from everywhere — antique stores, national retail chains, online ordering and more. She loves a good deal and likes to shop in thrifty ways.

Wherever the Laytons lay their heads, Amanda said she’ll still keep things simple and natural throughout the house. Her husband, however, gets to do what he wants in his office, and those decorations include the over-the-top Clark Griswold ones he enjoys.

“To me, Christmas is pretty personal,” she said. “I’m all about decorating where it looks good, but it’s easy.”

FIT GOVERNOR for a

The Grand Stairway, extending from the foyer to the third-floor ballroom, features a custom wool and silk runner bearing the names of each Oklahoma governor in succession.

Twelve years ago, interior designer J. Mark Taylor stepped inside a very special home for a very special project. Taylor was tasked to redesign the Oklahoma Governor’s Mansion to better suit the

needs of the family of then-incoming Governor Mary Fallin. Taylor described it as a “hair and make-up” sweep through the home, updating walls and

floors to refresh the rooms.

Little did he know back in 2010 that the mansion would continue to enthrall and engage him to this day; Taylor has been decorating the stately 14,000-square-foot residence every holiday season since.

In 2019, Taylor served an integral role in a major renovation. At that time, just before Governor Kevin Stitt and his family moved in, the 1927 structure required many repairs — replacing windows, fixing the roof, remediating water issues and restoring damaged woodwork were just a few pressing needs.

“Like anything else, when politics are involved, nobody wants to spend money, but it’s a state treasure,” said Taylor. While Friends of the Mansion fundraises ongoing furnishing and maintenance projects, the scale of this project required more … so much more.

“The state departments collected bids for all of the work that had to be done, and those bids were totaling 8 million dollars. The legislature allocated 2 million, saying ‘That’s all we can do,’” Taylor said. “Because the Stitts are so frugal, we did everything that needed to be done, plus updating furnishings, within that budget.”

Considering 18 families had previously moved in and out of the mansion, each slightly altering it, various stages of the last century could be found within the kitchen and bathrooms. Those areas had to be completely torn out and rebuilt to function efficiently. It was a major undertaking, and many Oklahoma companies generously donated their services and products — or provided them at deep discounts — to make renovations possible.

Interior design decisions were a collaborative effort between Taylor and First Lady Sarah Stitt.

Cabinets in the new kitchen incorporate design elements from the 1920s, including glass-front doors to frame displays of several state China collections.

In the library, leaded glass cabinets original to the mansion were refitted with LED lighting to showcase volumes of Oklahoma literature and personal memorabilia from previous governors.

Carved wooden chairs in the formal dining room feature needlepoint upholstery by the wives of Oklahoma Senators, hand-crafted during Governor David Hall's administration.

For the north lobby, Taylor selected a period wallpaper design from the early 1900s by Cole & Son of London: a subtle gold diamond trellis enclosing a simple sprig-leaf motif.

A festive arrangement fills the U.S.S. Oklahoma punch bowl — an exact replica of the original housed in the Oklahoma History Center — also used in inaugural events for Oklahoma’s governors. She guided color themes, and they used antiques and reupholstered furniture already in the mansion to reduce costs. When they did add new furnishings and decor, they sought to incorporate styles true to the original 1920s period of the mansion.

“The goals for the house were to restore it as closely as possible to its origins of 1927,” Taylor said. “The first lady is very gifted. She has a lot of vision, and she has a great eye.”

The first project that Taylor tackled with the Stitts was the kitchen, the workhorse of the home. The layout had to accommodate both commercial-type features and everyday family use.

“The kitchen needed to be a modern family kitchen that also served almost as a commercial kitchen, because the mansion is a primary entertaining space for dignitaries that visit the state — and for people who are visiting and looking to bring businesses into Oklahoma,” said Taylor.

The dining room was refashioned with the same grand events in mind, as well as the foyer, which makes quite a first impression. A custom rug of tufted wool and silk greets visitors with our state symbols: military stars, buffalos, words from the state motto and the shield of the state flag. The winding staircase maintains a unique design feature which was added during the Keating administration, listing governors’ names and terms along the rising steps. However, Taylor and Stitt chose to update the colors and design to match the Oklahoma themes.

“Mrs. Stitt’s heart in this [home] is that it belongs to the people. The Stitts see it almost as a museum to share, rather than something for them to hold onto,” Taylor said.

Design enthusiasts can schedule a tour of the Governor’s Mansion by contacting historian and tour coordinator Liz Wood at liz.wood@gov.ok.gov or (405) 888-6353. The expansive rooms are extra-special when they sparkle with festive seasonal decor on trees and mantels. Decorating for the holidays every year is a highlight for Taylor, because the Governor’s Mansion is so meaningful to him.

“It’s a place that is near and dear to my heart,” Taylor said. “I love going there. I love being a part of it. I love the staff. So it’s never been just a job to me. It’s such an honor, and I want to give my very best.”

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