Porte Cochere: View through Hank Willis Thomas’ “Harriet and Annie (Capri)”, 2018
CONTEMPORARY COOL
A Luxury Hotel and Fine Dining are only part of the story of The Joseph Written by Melissa Mahanes / Photos by Eric Laignel Nashville is so fortunate to have the spectacular Joseph Hotel added to our repertoire of places to stay and play in Music City. What lies beyond the living wall and cobblestones as you enter from Korean Veterans Boulevard is so much more than a stunning 279-room hotel. It is a gloriously appointed group of spaces with one of Nashville’s finest eateries (we told you all about Yolan in our Jan/Feb issue), a breathtaking rooftop bar and pool, and houses a world-class art collection. The Pizzuti’s collection began with Ann and Ron Pizzuti’s 1972 trip to Paris, where they were particularly captivated by Frank Stella’s art. Starting with the purchase of a $900 work by Karel Appel at a Columbus gallery paid for in installments, a passion would grow over the next three decades into a family collection of nearly 2,400 sculptures, paintings, and works on paper with an emphasis on established masters and emerging talents. In 2013, the Pizzuti Collection became a cornerstone of the Columbus
Museum of Art, where the Pizzutis supervised the renovation of a building in the Short North neighborhood of Columbus. They also gifted access to their collection for exhibitions in the museum and donated several additional works to the CMA. The Joseph in Nashville is the second Pizzuti hotel (the first is Le Meridien Columbus, The Joseph) to benefit from the family’s keen collecting eye and is a gift to the community much as The Pizzuti Collection is to Columbus. They want to convey the message that living around art and experiencing it does not have to be intimidating. Joel Pizzuti is carrying on his family passion for art by placing over 1,000 works of art at The Joseph that have been meticulously selected from the family’s private collection as well as collaborations with local artists (known as The Tennessee Portfolio). Pizzuti collaborated with local artists on the Tennessee Portfolio to give The Joseph its own dose of Music City flair.
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