Academy of Art University students pose for a picture
San Francisco — Visual Merchandising Students from the Academy of Art University left their mark on the Intercontinental Mark Hopkins hotel Tuesday evening. In a semester long collaboration with the hotel, nine talented students from the undergraduate level three visual merchandising class concepted, presented, fabricated, and set-up each of four display windows once masked in black paint. Each window was unveiled by the students who worked on them in addition to them explaining the concept of the design as well as the meaning behind each piece included.
Gail Gerber sits down for an interview with Chic Spy Agent Claudia Paolinelli
Area Director of Sales & Marketing for the InterContinental Hotels of San Francisco, Gail Gerber, is the mastermind behind a tradition she began as a way to bring back the history of the hotel. After taking her current position in 2004, Gerber saw the blacked out windows built into the beautifully painted walls as an opportunity to showcase tidbits about the InterContinental Mark Hopkins. In 2005, she started buying up items on eBay to display in the windows and called Academy of Art to help with the development of them. The rest was history, per say.
The annual process begins with Gerber creating the theme for the windows and leaves the rest up to the students. After giving them time to brainstorm concepts and sketch ideas, students present their thoughts to Gerber and her team. “When I critique them, it’s all in the story” Gerber says, “that’s the interesting part.”
Facets of the hotel’s history (art & architecture, music & movies, and a tribute to it’s’ staff) was this year’s theme, allowing the windows to each have their own contemporary flair. Ranging from movies and music to art and news, each window represented a historic hotel in a modern way. “All the windows are eclectic, but we (the students) have the bond” claims Danielle Wallis, a student participant. “Designing is fun, but a challenge. There’s lots of research. You have to ask, how can you create this? What can you use?”
Russell Clower and Paolinelli chat about the student installations
With most of these undergraduate students graduating this semester or next, the experience gained from this project is a great learning tool for their future endeavors. “What they come to understand is how to pitch ideas. Getting excited for proposals. The chance to break-down their ideas and build things on time and on a budget – which are the biggest pieces of the puzzle. It’s real world work experience” states Russell Clower, Assistant Director of Visual Merchandising at Academy of Art. Gerber agrees, “the experience is invaluable.”
With each year proving to up the ante with creativity the InterContinental Mark Hopkins and Academy of Art have decided to collaborate on this project twice a year instead of annually. The hotel manager, Nelum Gunewardane, stated it best, “It brings the hotel to life.”
(Photo credits: Rose Marnell)
