Photograph courtesy of Tiny Doors ATL
Karen Anderson, the creative mind behind Tiny Doors ATL’s 15 diminutive art installations around town, is best known for her 7-inch-tall creations. But, in honor of Atlanta hosting the biggest night in football, she worked with Hotel Indigo Midtown to create her largest work to date: a 14-foot tall, 8-foot wide “not-so-tiny” door.
“It’s been really cool [to create], and to me, it’s still on-brand for Tiny Doors ATL, because it does the thing that the tiny doors do,” she explains. “It changes your perception and gets you into a moment of wonder and whimsy. It’s about playing with scale and getting people to use their imagination. Instead of the doors making you feel big, this door makes you feel tiny.”
The partnership with Hotel Indigo came together just a few weeks ago when parent company IHG Hotels & Resorts brought the idea to Anderson as part of it’s Home Team Hospitality program, which hosts free events at its hotels around the city during Super Bowl. After drawing inspiration from Hotel Indigo itself, Anderson teamed up with Ferris Entertainment Group to construct the oversized door. Seven staffers teamed up to construct and install the door, made of wood, Bondo wood filler, and a giant handle, before painting it Pantone teal, one of Hotel Indigo’s signature colors. “I thought that teal was so gorgeous, and I don’t have a door that color. It was really fun to do it large,” Anderson says.
At Thursday’s door unveiling, actor Nick Cannon, another of IHG’s Home Team Hospitality ambassadors, stopped by to pose for a few photos with the artist on the door’s enormous welcome mat. For Anderson, seeing the excitement the door has generated has been its own reward.
“It’s been great to watch people go down there, get excited, and get really creative [with their photographs]. To me, that’s a measure of success,” she says.
Photograph courtesy of Tiny Doors ATL
Though vastly different in size and scale, this “not-so-tiny” art installation does have a few things in common with its tiny kin. “They’re all free to visit, they’re public, and they’re wheelchair accessible,” Anderson explains.
While Hotel Indigo’s door installation is designed to be temporary—only through Super Bowl weekend—there’s already talk of extending it into something more long-term. “This door takes up more physical space than my entire project [of tiny doors around town]. I like the idea of it having a big impact and standing alone,” Anderson says, adding that it likely wouldn’t change the direction of the rest of her signature artwork. “I can’t see myself doing a lot of big doors, but I really do love this one.”
Photograph courtesy of Tiny Doors ATL
See the larger-than-life art installation and photo opp at Hotel Indigo Midtown, located at 683 Peachtree Street Northeast.
