{"id":158732,"date":"2022-05-06T16:01:56","date_gmt":"2022-05-07T02:01:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/?p=158732"},"modified":"2022-05-06T16:06:15","modified_gmt":"2022-05-07T02:06:15","slug":"art-alums-restaurant-environment-designs-sizzle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/2022\/05\/06\/art-alums-restaurant-environment-designs-sizzle\/","title":{"rendered":"Art alum\u2019s restaurant ‘environment’ designs sizzle"},"content":{"rendered":"Reading time: <\/span> 2<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>
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Michael Files at Chai Pani<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Designer, fine artist and printmaker Michael Files<\/strong> helps chefs whip up aesthetic environments to better enhance the guest dining experience. The University of Hawaiʻi<\/span> at M\u0101noa alumnus earned a BFA<\/abbr> in printmaking from the College of Arts, Languages and Letters<\/a> (CALL<\/abbr>) in 2007 and went on to find an alluring niche as a creative director tasked with setting the atmosphere at restaurants. One of his latest projects can be seen at Indian street food eatery, Chai Pani<\/a> in Asheville, North Carolina. The restaurant, ranked among the New York Times<\/em>\u2019 top 50 in America, displays Files\u2019 flavor.<\/p>\n

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Files\u2019 BFA<\/abbr> exhibition during his senior year at 东精影业<\/abbr> M\u0101noa.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

“It is great to be paid to do creative things. The root of [my design for restaurants] is my love for India and my love for street culture in India. I love the day-to-day there. My main satisfaction comes from the experience of shepherding people and ideas through the process of building a space out, making it interesting, and helping other people, including chefs and restaurateurs, to build their brand and bring in the human experience,” Files said.<\/p>\n

Files\u2019 approach integrates the range of skills he developed for his own art practice which began during his days at 东精影业<\/abbr> M\u0101noa. Although his focus was on printmaking, Files was strongly inspired by the way performance art integrates spatial and visual elements to create a viewer experience.<\/p>\n

“When I look back at it now, it\u2019s almost like I\u2019ve been doing the same thing I now do professionally.”<\/p>\n