Celebrating the Chinese New Year, the JW Marriott San Francisco Union Square has unveiled an installation of 100 hand-balanced red lanterns. Displayed in the Refusalon Gallery on the hotel’s entry level, the installation will remain on view through March 5.
“We want to welcome guests and the local community with an international art experience that reflects San Francisco’s multicultural heritage,” said Paul Toner, general manager of JW Marriott San Francisco Union Square.
Artist Justin Charles Hoover discovered the lanterns while working on an outdoor mural commissioned by the Chinese Cultural Center last year. The lanterns were about to be discarded; each year Chinatown’s Grant Avenue is decorated with new lanterns to mark the Lunar New Year. For centuries, red lanterns have symbolized vitality and good fortune in Chinese culture.
“As the son of a Chinese-American immigrant and an Anglo-Saxon father, I’m committed to preserving my heritage,” Hoover said. “I salvaged the lanterns and arranged them in a stacked formation to create a towering installation that celebrates the strength and beauty of Chinese culture.”
Hoover’s work has been shown and performed internationally, including at the 2012 Venice Architecture Biennale, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, and the 2011 Art Life Festival in Guangzhou, China. He currently serves as curator of exhibitions at the Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History.
The installation offers visitors a contemplative, visually striking experience that honors tradition while finding new meaning in reclaimed materials. By transforming discarded festival decorations into a finely balanced sculptural piece, Hoover highlights both the cultural significance of the lanterns and the creative possibilities of reuse.
Located near the hotel entrance, the Refusalon Gallery installation provides an accessible moment of celebration for hotel guests and the surrounding community. The display invites viewers to reflect on themes of continuity, renewal, and cultural exchange during the Lunar New Year season.