If These Walls Could Talk: The Art at Hotel Renegade
Updated: Sep 29
Look once, and you might see a beautifully designed hotel. Look again, and things get a little more interesting.
A pair of fringed leather chaps hangs framed like fine art. Antique canteens line a wall behind the bar. An American flag is stitched entirely from denim. Marilyn Monroe greets you from the lobby wearing, of all things, an Idaho potato sack. None of it is accidental.
Art has been part of the Hotel Renegade design story from the beginning, with custom pieces sourced and created through artists to bring something unexpected to every corner of the hotel. The collection is eclectic by design, mixing subtle Western influence, Americana, vintage objects, portraiture, unconventional materials, and just enough oddity to make you stop and look twice.
Because around here, art isn't meant to simply fill a wall. It's meant to start a conversation.
Art That Doesn't Behave
There are paintings, photographs, and framed works throughout Hotel Renegade, but some of the most memorable pieces aren't quite so easy to categorize. Much of the collection was sourced through SOHO MYRIAD, with an approach that favors personality over predictability. Leather becomes a canvas. Everyday objects become installations. Familiar American symbols show up in decidedly unfamiliar forms.
It's Western without becoming Western-themed. Americana without taking itself too seriously. And instead of asking every piece to match, the collection gives each one permission to stand on its own.
The result feels less decorated and more collected, with something new waiting around nearly every corner.
Look a Little Closer
Marilyn, Burlap & a Pretty Good Comeback
One of the newest additions to the Hotel Renegade lobby comes with a story that began decades before the hotel ever opened. After Marilyn Monroe's fashion choices drew criticism, the Hollywood star famously posed for a publicity shoot wearing a fitted dress made from a humble burlap potato sack. The stunt turned the criticism on its head, proving that Monroe could command attention in just about anything. And this wasn't just any potato sack. It was an Idaho potato sack.
What began as a Hollywood publicity stunt became one of Monroe's memorable early images, equal parts glamour and wit. Today, the photograph feels particularly at home in Boise. An unexpected piece of Idaho history, a little Hollywood rebellion, and a woman who knew how to turn someone else's criticism into her own moment.
We'd say she landed in the right lobby.
History Behind the Bar
Order a drink at the Lobby Bar and take a look beside it. A grid of antique canteens and flasks transforms a collection of well-worn objects into one of the hotel's most distinctive installations. Scratches, dents, patina, and imperfections remain intact, giving each piece a character that couldn't be replicated by something made to look old.
Once practical objects meant to be carried and used, they're now preserved together as a piece of visual history. There's no need to polish away the past. Around here, that's usually the most interesting part.
These Are the Good Ol' Days
In the Pend d’Oreille Penthouse, layers of Western imagery and ripped paper surround a simple reminder: These are the good ol' days. The piece feels nostalgic at first glance, but look at the words a little longer and the perspective shifts.
Maybe the good old days aren't somewhere behind you. Maybe they're the weekend you're in the middle of, the trip you'll talk about years from now, or the night you haven't realized you'll miss yet. For a piece hanging in a hotel room, we'd call that pretty fitting.
Stitched Together
The American flag makes appearances throughout Hotel Renegade, but rarely in the way you expect.
One of the most striking interpretations hangs along the stairway, where the stars and stripes have been recreated entirely in denim. The familiar symbol takes on new texture through a material with its own unmistakably American history and character.
It's recognizable from across the room. Up close, the stitching and construction tell another story.
Consider it one more reason to take the stairs.
Buckle Up
Even waiting for the elevator comes with something worth looking at. A belt-inspired piece turns another familiar Western object into art, playing with material, scale, and context. Removed from where you'd normally expect to find it, the everyday suddenly deserves a second look.
That's a recurring theme around here...
A Different Kind of Western
Hotel Renegade has never been interested in playing cowboy. Instead, the art collection offers quieter, more unexpected nods to the West. Fringed leather chaps are framed in the Penthouse. Green leather artwork in select guest suites calls to mind the rolling shapes and colors of the Boise Foothills. Western-inspired pieces near the first-floor bathrooms bring another interpretation to the mix.
Leather, texture, landscape, and familiar objects do more of the talking than obvious motifs ever could.
It's less about recreating the West and more about borrowing some of its character: independent, weathered, a little unruly, and never too polished.
Not every piece needs a long explanation. In fact, part of the fun is finding the ones that leave you with questions.
A piece tucked inside a one-bedroom suite bathroom offers the unexpected perspective of peering through a keyhole. Up on the eighth floor, a collage adds another layer of personality to a space guests might otherwise simply pass through. And inside Baraboo Supper Club, walls filled with framed artwork make the collection part of the dining experience, too.
There are pieces you might notice immediately and others you could stay beside for three nights before finally seeing. That's intentional.
Hotel art has an easy job if you let it. Match the room. Fill the space. Look nice in a photograph. The collection at Hotel Renegade was asked to do more.
From the earliest stages of the hotel's design, art was considered part of the guest experience. The pieces were chosen to surprise, provoke curiosity, add history, and occasionally leave someone wondering exactly what they're looking at.
Some come with stories stretching back decades. Others rely on texture, material, or placement to make their point. And a few may simply make you smile.
There doesn't have to be a plaque explaining every one. Sometimes looking twice is enough.
The next time you're at Hotel Renegade, take the long way. Look behind the bar. Take the stairs. Pay attention while you're waiting for the elevator. Wander the halls. Look above the sofa. And when you sit down for dinner at Baraboo Supper Club, take a moment to see what's hanging around you.
Some of the best stories at Hotel Renegade aren't written anywhere. You just have to know where to look.