Update: Okay, I'm a big dummy: pops just confirmed it wasn't DC but the Sheraton Reston VA.

I did some research on this about 5yrs ago and figured out which hotel it was--I don't recall right now which one, and probably doesn't matter. It'll probably come down to someone, one day, hopefully saying something like, "My dad saved that from going in a dumpster... it's in a storage unit..." or some other such far-fetched unlikely outcome.
But maybe it's worth trying.

Fun fact: That's her depleted and exhausted on the sofe. She had to make this entire thing in something like 72 hours bc the hotel rejected some other big piece they consigned from another artist, and they called my mom to make it with a strict deadline for a big event or an their grand opening.

She recruited every friend on the upper west side of Manhattan, including us kids to work on it around the clock. Once it was too big to work on in my future step-dad's apt, it was brought out onto West 83rd off Central Park W to work on it on the sidewalk--10,000's of knots. That's ALL macrame, including the wind. Her name isn't visible here, but it was crocheted or macramed in black thread into the base of the wind coming out of the goddess's mouth.

Wow, props to your mom! That's really cool. Not like the crappy macrame art my mom had hanging up in our house in the early 80s. I hate thinking that as styles and trends changed this might have ended up tossed out.

>Not like the crappy macrame art my mom had hanging up in our house in the early 80s.

Those macrame owls...

Haha, not an owl, but I think it was an abstract macrame woman with odd lines forming her general shape, and weird beads in obvious places like eyes, nose, nipples and such. It was nailed to the wall and when I was a kid, I was fairly certain it ripped itself off the walls and walked around the first floor of the house when we slept, only we couldn't hear it move because it was shuffling around on shag carpeting. Nightmares....

I hear you, /u/speedycat2014, and /u/alex3m3ti8, there's a lot of macrame oddness out there in the world. I learned at an early age to tell the artist of said oddness that their stuff was really nice and just not talk about my mom much.

If my mom had made a piece like that, I'd sure talk about it. I think the marcrame stuff my mom had was probably the 1980's equivalent of the "Not All Who Wander are Lost" / "It's Wine-o-clock somewhere" / "Live, Laugh Love" AirBnB 'art' stuff.

So, I used to work as a PM for a demolitions company up until about 2 years ago. You need to find the company that did the selective demolition when whatever hotel it was got remodeled.

That said, don’t get your hopes up. If it was metal it was recycled, if it was anything else it was trashed. Demolitions companies get contracts and take over salvage rights for anything in the building or area. Art this size is insanely expensive to move and the market for it is like 3 people worldwide. Any large art installations that we took over were put in the round file with everything else.

Thanks for taking the time to comment and yes, that's the assumption. Takin' a shot, though. Some of my mom's bikinis turned up in the freakin' Metropolitan Museum of Art and someone discovered them and let me know, so wacky things happen sometimes.

Well if the company who did the reno followed the rules, their demo plan would on file with the DC Dept of buildings (office of planning of they took the whole building down). That plan should have a landfill listed as well as recycling center. If they followed the rules all the stuff they took out ended up in one of those. What year was it taken down? What hotel was it?

There's a facebook group called Old Time DC. They may be able to help. Their email address is oldtdc@gmail.com

> oldtdc@gmail.com

I'll give it a shot - thanks!

Understood for sure; still it was a little awkward to say things like, "Say, great owl bead pubes you selected there... by the way, have you seen my mom's piece on the cover of Cosmo or Vogue?

Edits: added link/clarity/fixed typo, etc

Ok I love this wall hanging, and the backstory. 72 hours is insane!! Your mom was clearly really talented. Thanks for pointing her out on the couch, I wouldn’t have noticed!

Thisnisnt by far the douchiest macrame relayed thing ever uttered or typed.

Sure and thank you for the kind words. I was/am so used to a lifetime of her work that it's really touching to hear the way others see her or her works.

It looks like the hotel is still there, I was mistaken about DC it's actually Sheridan Reston Virginia.

Edit: waiting to hear back from pops about the year but I think it was somewhere between 70 to 73.

Update: hotel opened in 73 and this was for their opening, so it must be '73. Someone passes along some more helpful info so I'll see if that leads anywhere. Thanks reddit

With a backstory like that I really hope it was preserved. Can see a demo crew wanting to trash it though. Very cool 70s vibe. In a way it reminds me of Peter Max (with the lines anyway).

Wait what? That's a story I want to hear.

Thanks for the sentiment and you nailed it, Peter Max's right hand woman and I think his marketing chief was one of my mom's best friends and lived around the corner from us on the upper west side. We played with her kids and her entire apartment was Peter Max: Peter Max piano, bed sheets, mural, clocks. She used to give her us stuff like bags of Peter Max buttons that I don't know what a single one would be worth today.

I'll talk to the producer that just flew in to town last night and see how he feels about me sharing more the details or if he feels it's better to keep some of the details as surprises for the documentary. Sorry, don't mean to be coy but I promise look into it.

I hope you find it

Absolutely stellar series of articles they're hyping there too.

Yknow, I was going to point out that I think they're virtually identical to the cover stories today, 50 yrs later.

Great photo of the piece. Without the hotel context, I would think this were a larger than life logo for a cruise ship brand.

Track the owners of the hotel itself: https://www.commercialsearch.com/news/dovehill-capital-wurzak-acquire-nova-hotel/?amp=1 This article says hotel was constructed in 1973 and renovated in 2014 (I’m sure that’s major renovations) lobbies are redecorated every 7-10 years. Find the owner and that will lead you to interior design firm.

I'm of course not sure where it will lead, but thank you very much for that very helpful tip. And it confirms the years, since the piece was for their grand opening.
I'll get set up for the documentary production and give them a buzz. Hopefully there's a reason to give them a visit.

It would make a good logo, wouldn't it?

Sometimes owners take home art or objects or furniture they like. Good luck.

Thank you!
Spent the day with a film producer and my sister going over photos and recording stories about her. It'll be nice if it all goes somewhere.