For anyone interested in art who has not been to The Loren in a while, now may be a good time to pay a visit.

Under the guidance of Penny Aaron, the hotel has a carefully curated collection of contemporary works.

Vik Muniz, Richard Long and Jane Wilbraham are among the international artists on display. The pieces laid the foundation for an exhibit by Bermudian Nhuri Bashir that opened last month.

It’s a long-term plan that began with a request the hotelier Stephen King made in 2009 of Ms Aaron, an independent art adviser and curator for 20 years whose clients are typically long-term collectors of contemporary art.

Mr King proposed that she find pieces for his offices in New York City to “create an atmosphere that would be uplifting and promote innovation, open mindedness and creativity”.

As he explained in the book Art at The Loren, the search led to a better understanding of “the challenge living artists face trying to stay relevant to the discussions of their peers while adding something new to the art cannons”.

Mr King brought much of the art with him when he relocated his business to Bermuda. When he decided to build The Loren the obvious solution was to put them there.

“The hotel is filled with 50 or 60 artworks that have been collected over this time period, and they're pretty major pieces by international artists from all over,” Ms Aaron said.

“But when we opened in 2017 and hung the art it was sort of forgotten. I don't think it was talked about as much when we talked about the branding of the hotel until we opened The Loren at Lady Bird Lake a year ago in Austin.”

The art in hand wasn’t a good fit for the Texas hotel. A collaboration with The Contemporary Austin led to a 30-foot mural painted by an artist of the capital city. A pop-up with the British auction house Christie’s showcasing highlights of their forthcoming auction was also helpful in connecting Lady Bird Lake with Austin’s “collecting community”.

“It was an immediate connection and collaboration,” Ms Aaron said. “That collaboration has made us realise we should be doing more in Bermuda because we are an art hotel, and I think finally we're embracing that. The public areas have Stephen’s art collection in them and it’s a space that can be enjoyed and appreciated by anybody who comes in.”

It’s in that vein that “an art-filled weekend” was held last month to celebrate the launch of Joyful Rebellion, Mr Bashir’s exhibit that partnered the hotel with Masterworks Museum of Bermuda Art, and the unveiling of an oversized mural by Tamara Gonzales, an artist based in Brooklyn, New York.

“I think it's a great collaboration. I think it was such a success to see the local art community and meet them. There was a dinner, we had an opening and it was interesting to hear their involvement with Masterworks, with the local art scene,” said Ms Aaron, who is based in the US but flew in for the event.

“I met a few other local artists; I honestly hadn't met many. I knew Nhuri and I've been to Masterworks, I've been to the Bermuda National Gallery.

“I don't know how often – maybe it's twice a year, maybe it's three times a year – but we will use space in the Marée Lounge to exhibit [local] artwork.”

As explained in Art at The Loren, the idea is to forge a connection through the pieces of art on display at the various hotels.

“Vik Muniz’s photograph, now hanging at The Loren at Pink Beach, from his Picture of Junk series – a series embodying the idea of making something beautiful and meaningful out of junk and trash – inspired several later acquisitions dealing with themes of materiality, recycling, nature and climate change,” Ms Aaron wrote in her description of the art collection on display.

“Richard Long’s painting, also currently hanging in The Loren at Pink Beach, is made from dirt collected during one of his famous Land Art walks.

“Jane Wilbraham’s watercolour depicts debris she collected on a walk through London’s Sydenham Hill neighbourhood. Sam Lewitt’s wall sculpture is made from discarded computer parts and MetroCards.

“And Tony Feher’s sculpture consists of found jars that he filled with coloured marbles that refract and reflect any light that hits them.”

The threads run throughout the art hanging in The Loren at Pink Beach and The Loren at Lady Bird Lake and will continue as the brand grows, the art adviser said.

“We intend to open more hotels. We're already working on one in Turks and Caicos and it's important to us that we have a connection between the three hotels with the art.

“We're hoping that there are some Bermuda artists that we can show in Turks & Caicos.

“We want it all to piece together and tell stories about the different locations and for our guests to be able to see what we're doing in all three locations with the arts.”

• For more information, visit www.thelorenhotels.com