Hard Bali

When Hard Rock Resorts of Bali wanted a 12' x 40' mural for a conference room, the company came to Adirondack Scenic, Inc. of Glens Falls, NY. Louis Allen, vice president and creative director, devised this Arcadian proposal.

"They wanted the mural on fabric, not only for acoustic purposes, but also because they needed to be able to pull it aside to reveal a projection screen," Allen says. "Now when you think of the Hard Rock, you think of great music and beautiful women-where better to get both than in Greek mythology? I gave them three sketches, and did renderings of the two they seemed to like best.

"The first one was a day/night motif, with half-faces of the sun and moon on a fretboard down the middle, flanked by dawn and dusk scenes of near-naked nymphs," Allen continues. "The second one had naiads dancing on the water to the music of a couple of minstrels. I like hidden meanings in a design; that's why the male lion in the mural is watching the dancers.

"It turned out that the mural concept they really liked was the one I'd only sketched: a chessboard with rock singers as the chess pieces. Elvis was the king and Tina Turner was the queen. Patrons may eventually see that one. The mural, unfortunately, isn't scheduled for the first phase of the project," says Allen.

Adirondack artists have painted murals for Hard Rock Cafes in Sacramento, Philadelphia, and Baltimore, as well as providing the sculptural elements which grace the entrances to Hard Rock's Dubai and Cairo clubs. The Adirondack Scenic office at Universal Studios in Orlando is involved in an ongoing sampling program for future Hard Rock specialty finishes.