Enchanted Art at Disney’s Grand Californian

The brief: introduce guests staying at Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel & Spa to Disney Vacation Club without breaking the hotel's spell. The Grand Californian is a love letter to Craftsman California and the state’s natural beauty, and the last thing its lobby needed was an ad.

So instead of an ad, we made art. Jennifer Oviedo and I concepted an immersive, animated installation that celebrates the California landscapes I spend my own weekends exploring, and shows what life as a DVC Member looks like inside it. I chose the locations (Garrapata’s sea cliffs, Napa Valley, and Second Lake in the Eastern Sierra), then researched plein air artists based in California and interviewed several candidates. We commissioned Sharon Weaver to paint the landscapes, reviewing the canvases with her at every stage, and hired an animation studio to add motion to the finished paintings. Disney Imagineers then brought it from canvas to hotel wall, where it lives permanently.

I have no words about this one. Literally. And it’s the project I’m proudest of.

P.S. Can you spot all 3 hidden Mickeys?

Creative Director: Alicia Cressey
Producer: Jim D’Addario
Associate Creative Director: Jennifer Oviedo
Fine Artist: Sharon Weaver
Copywriter: Jack Lyons