Ramada

The Ramada Jarvis Hotel, at the bottom of Union Street, has long been identified as a lynchpin of IOTA. Project Manager, Susan Christie, has brokered a partnership with the hotel to allow professional artists a major role in transforming the much-maligned 1960’s concrete facade into a symbol of the transformation for the Old Town. Susan’s concentrated energy, together with the growing reputation of Inverness within the British cultural scene, resulted in attracting more than 70 applications from top class artists worldwide. Artists, architects and designers with international reputations sought to be considered for the commission with practitioners from USA, Germany, Norway, Bulgaria, Italy, Holland, together with a strong contingent from Scotland and the Highlands competing for the project.

Short listing interviews were held at the hotel in 2008 and three artist teams were selected to prepare designs for the next part of the selection process. The short listed artists are Alex Frost, Usman Haque and Hsiao-Chi Tsai + Kimiya Yoshikawa. Negotiations are currently in progress with the Ramada Jarvis over the final choice of artist.