Today we’d like to introduce you to Jencey Keeton.
What pops into your head when you hear, “Sweet Tooth Hotel?” We bet you didn’t initially think experiential art. Which is, we think, exactly the point. You’re invited to check-in at Sweet Tooth Hotel, created by wife and husband duo Jencey and Cole Keeton, an immersive art venue that features emerging experiential artists. Visitors make their way through 5,000 square feet of adventures in the form of art installations – exhibits have included everything from large-scale new media productions to retro-futurism to yarn. Yes, yarn. It’s unexpected, imaginative, impressive.
A new chapter of Sweet Tooth Hotel is upon us which means brand new installations to explore! Intangible, A Fiber Fairytale is now open and features an all-female cast of some of the top fiber artists in the US. They’ve used more than two million feet of yarn to create their yarn bombs, crocheted delicacies and pom-poms, among many other fiber art fantasies in the world of Intangible.
The idea for this installation came when Sarah Guenther-Moore of Craft Yarn Council reached out to our (delete our) founder, Jencey Keeton. Sarah had the idea for yarn to make some kind of appearance in a room of the next chapter. Jencey excitedly agreed, but with a bigger twist: instead of one room, the entire installation would be made exclusively from fiber and textiles!
Fiber art, a form of tactile art, has many forms, and trust us. You’ll be able to view almost every technique in this installation. But one of the coolest things about tactile art is how beneficial it is for your mental health. Every part of it – from the stress relief that artists feel as they create, to the soothing feeling you get when you experience the art as a viewer, are food for the mind and soul. We are so excited to partner with Craft Yarn Council (CYC) to bring awareness to the art of fiber, and help them showcase their mission: representing the leading yarn companies, accessory manufacturers, magazine and book publishers, and consultants in the yarn industry, and spreading the word about Humans That Yarn.
The first installation of Sweet Tooth Hotel delivered five sugar-themed interactive rooms based on popular treats. Each room was thoughtfully crafted by Built By Bender, a design and fabrication shop whose roster includes a variety of clients from Legacy Hall to the City of Plano, with lots of hidden surprises to uncover.
In addition to the “hotel rooms,” artists Jeremy Biggers, Shamsy Roomiani, Jojo Chuang and Chelsea Delzell created individual installations incorporated into space. Rob Wilson, Beau Bollinger of Hairstory, Dani Goodman of Goodies Cakery and Ruben Burgess also created individual pieces of work.
Chapter Two was titled “1955”, which incorporated references to some of the most beloved designs from mid-century atomic to the Space Age, harkening back to a time when everyone was looking towards outer space and the limitless potential of technology. Artists have created work addressing retrofuturism, which is characterized by depictions of the future produced in an earlier era and explores the tension of future and past and between the alienating and empowering effects of technology.
Featuring five interactive spaces, brought to life from a burst of colorful oil from a rocket ship fueled by rainbows, viewers will be able to interact with new creations by previous collaborators, Built by Bender, Jeremy Biggers, Rob Wilson, Jojo Chuang and Shamsy Roomiani, along with new Sweet Tooth Hotel artists Hatziel Flores and Drigo. Each of the following artists will take over an entire room and use one color as the main hue and inspiration for their work, Jeremy Biggers – Red, Hatziel Flores – Blue, Drigo – Yellow and Rob Wilson – White.
Sweet Tooth Hotel presented chapter three of their installation series titled DISCOTECH in 2019. In collaboration with px.lab, a mixed reality studio focused on large-scale new media productions, Discotech combined music and new media to create interactive audio-visual installations.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Our most recent installation, Intangible, was supposed to open on April 18 and we weren’t able to because of the COVID-19 closures. Then we were going in the open in June and were delayed further because of the Dallas curfew.
Please tell us about Sweet Tooth Hotel.
We are an immersive art venue that serves as a platform for all creatives – artists, musicians, photographers, creators, etc. We curate different installations throughout the year to showcase different art forms.
Do you look back particularly fondly on any memories from childhood?
My favorite childhood memory is of the stuffed rabbit I nicknamed, Bunny. She went with me everywhere.
Pricing:
- $20 for adult tickets
- $15 for kids tickets
- $17 student/senior/military tickets
- $2 pay what you can for the virtual tour series which is launching August 15
Contact Info:
- Address: 2316 Victory Park Lane
Dallas, TX 75219 - Website: www.sweettoothhotel.com
- Email: hello@sweettoothhotel.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sweettoothhotel/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sweettoothhotel/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/sweettoothhotel
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/sweet-tooth-hotel-dallas
- Other: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKbwHBsZGCEMlXp5r4GYwkg
Image Credit:
Photo Credit: TA Visuals
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