22 portraits of Locals doing hotel-y things roamed the glass hallways of Harmon Guest House, an art-infused contemporary hotel in downtown Healdsburg, during summer 2021.

Created with tempera paint on glass, this temporary installation is a result of the joint envisioning of hotel owner Circe Sher and local artist Alice Warnecke Sutro. Locals were invited into the hotel and asked to perform quintessential hotel scenes while Alice drew them from life in her signature style. Alice’s gestural work and methodology embodies the fundamental principles of human nature: to gather together and relish in the interpersonal connections where joy and meaning blossoms. As a concept, the installation also highlights a hotel’s forever-question with a comical inversion: how to get to know a place well enough to feel like you’ve seen it like a local? In this case, the locals are situated within the hotel to enjoy that space like it’s their home.

Locals, 2021
Tempera on Glass
Site specific ephemeral drawing installation
Commissioned by Harmon Guest House
Documentation photography by Brett Walker