artwork

The thoughtful attention to detail—both aesthetic and environmentally conscious—doesn’t end with h2hotel’s architecture. Where serenity rules over clutter with a pared-down aesthetic that’s welcoming before becoming too sparse? h2hotel’s owners partnered with local artists and Oakland’s Swarm Gallery to commission works that would reflect the concept of being rooted in Healdsburg while being conscious of the world at large.


sky background

Spoonfall | Ned Khan

Internationally acclaimed, Sonoma county based artist Ned Kahn’s “Spoonfall” water sculpture greets guests outside the lobby entrance and inspired the name of h2hotel’s restaurant Spoonbar. It is a whimsical illustration of nature and nondescript combining to create something dynamic and new. 2,000 stainless steel espresso spoons are suspended from a metal screen and are “activated” by the water trickling over them. As each of them fills and dips and spills, a continually morphing pattern shifts against the backdrop.

Live Oak | Stephen Galloway

Galloway artwork
If it feels like you’re floating as you move from lobby on up through h2hotel, you’re on to something. Artist Stephen Galloway designed the series of striking photographic glass installations surrounding the elevators to depict the canopy of a Live Oak tree—a species of oak indigenous to Sonoma County and ubiquitous amongst the Healdsburg hills. Starting from ground level in the lobby, the “view” from each floor seems as if you’re rising higher and higher among the limbs of the tree.

fireplace
Leonidas Kyriakopoulos

Leonidas Kyriakopoulos brings an artist’s sensibilities and thirty years of exceptional craftsmanship to create a sculpture bound copper Steinway piano wires illuminated by flame.

Firesticks installation
Aoki artwork

Technical Plant Illustrations
Kathy Aoki

The lovely prints by Kathy Aoki that hang in the guestrooms give a “wink, wink” to the technical botanical illustrations of the 18th and 19th centuries. In this case, they’re lighthearted interpretations inspired by the shape and structure of four species native to California and used in h2hotel’s landscaping—white alder, sand dune sedge, spreading rush and Douglas iris.


Stone installation

Little Universe (Burst Boom Bloom)
Katy Stone

Katy Stone’s gorgeous-yet-whimsical installation of luminous golden blooms seems to leap from the rough concrete walls of Spoonbar. Like all of h2’s commissioned art, this piece captures organic movement. From afar, it gives the impression of dandelions and daisies afloat on the breeze as it rounds the corner from bar to dining room. Up close, details come into view. The lingering feeling evokes the abundance of nature in Healdsburg and the surrounding area, and the energy—from cellular to universal—that’s common to us all. www.katystone.net

glass sculptures
SkLO studio

The glass sculptures that are featured in the lobby wall window of the h2 were produced by Healdsburg-based SkLO studio. Karen Gilbert, SkLO lead designer, worked directly with glass masters in the Czech Republic to produce pieces that inspire conversation and comtemplation–not to mention, drawing your eye to the view beyond them outside the window.


Framed map artwork

Historical Maps

The historical maps found in the guest bathrooms are a true representation of history. Each of the six variations, which include geological surveys and growing regions, represent the area around town from the 19th to the mid-20th century. Sustainable bamboo paper and hand-finished frames resembling traditional red lacquer take the artisanal and sustainable focus right down to the details.