In-house curator appointed to the Cullen hotel

Sydney Morning Herald

Saturday November 14, 2009

THE Cullen, the first of six Art Series hotels planned for Melbourne, has opened in Prahran. The 115-room hotel on Commercial Road features works by Adam Cullen, including seven large acrylic canvases in the foyer and 33 digital prints. There are two sculptures to come.Jane O'Neill is the in-house curator for the hotel and possibly the first person in Australia to hold such a title.O'Neill, who has an extensive background in the art world, worked with Cullen between 1996 and 2000 and curated his work in three independent contemporary art exhibitions. She is finding working within a hotel invigorating."A hotel is a wonderful environment for art. It means you get to live around the art,�� she says. ��Cullen, with his absurdist sense of humour and his shrewd observational take on Australian culture, is the perfect choice for such a project.��O'Neill's role, now the hotel is open, is to introduce guests to Cullen's work and to the wider art scene.��If someone says to me I want to learn all I can and get to know the young up-and-coming stars of the art scene then that's what I will do,�� she says. In keeping with the art theme, the hotel has bikes and Smart cars decorated with Cullen's work for guests to hire.The hotel also has in-house personal fitness advisers: former Hawthorn footballers Shane Crawford and Ben Dixon.Rooms from $172. See artserieshotels.com.au.Family break on a budgetIt's not often you get a deal like this during school holidays. Even better, Club Med properties in the Asia Pacific region are inviting children to stay for free.The offer applies to children under 12 and is available for minimum eight-night stays at Club Med Nusa Dua Bali; Phuket; Bintan Island; Cherating Beach, Malaysia; and Mauritius for travel until April next year. It's on sale until November 30.

© 2009 Sydney Morning Herald

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