Making an art space at home

To display their art collection properly, Rob and Debbie Cohen renovated their condominium at the Residences at the Ritz-Carlton in Center City with an eye to outfitting the space as a personal gallery with specially designed lighting.

With the help of Mary MacElree Interior Design of Haverford and supplier Rittenhouse Electric, the Cohens transformed their apartment into a true haven for their paintings, sculpture and family portraits.

Last year, Debbie Cohen, formerly a partner with law firm Pepper Hamilton, and Rob Cohen, who owns and operates the Frog Hollow Racquet Club in Lansdale, moved out of the Philadelphia suburbs and into the city. The move provided them the opportunity to meticulously place and show off some very personal pieces, such as a portrait of Rob Cohen's father, as well as work by local artists such as Trudy Kraft, whom Debbie Cohen has collected over the years.

The portrait, painted by Bayard H. Tyler in 1918, hangs in their front hall, as does a series of massive paintings by Gabor Peterdi, including Desert I and Desert II and Celebration, given to Rob Cohen by his mother, Ruth.

In the hallway leading to his study hangs a Chagall and an Alexander Calder print.

In their former home, much of the Cohens' collection hung randomly.

Not so at the new condo, where designer MacElree made sure the light "wasn't deliberately shining on the paintings."

"Mike Elkins at Rittenhouse Electric is a wizard, and we used MR16 lighting throughout the space, so there wouldn't be those hot spots," MacElree said.

They installed LED pivot lights by Tech Lighting in a metallic brushed nickel.

Together, they constructed rail lights around the entry hall, the perimeter of the Cohens' apartment, and even the bathroom, so the lights could be changed directionally.

"We picked halogen LED lighting that lasts forever, is a true light, and doesn't change the tone of the paintings or other objects," MacElree said.

The Ritz-Carlton has glass outer windows coated with a UV protective finish that projects a slightly bluish tint, so "we worked around that, as well," she said. "The goal was to work around the art, and let everything else take second place."

The Cohens took time with their designers to visualize how all the paintings would be lit, but they made sure to highlight some special family-made pieces, such as an Alexander Calder-style mobile that hangs in Rob Cohen's study/guest room overlooking City Hall.

His father, Arthur M. Cohen, was an engineer by training, and after the family saw a Calder exhibit in New York, including a hanging sculpture, "my father insisted he could build one after my mom complimented them."

"He said, 'I can do that.' We went back home, and he made one from a photograph in the museum brochure as the basis for the mobile. I watched him make it when I was around 10 years old, and after he and my mom died, it was important to me to have that," Rob Cohen said.

There's also a Debbie Fuchs painting - painted and signed by Debbie Cohen when she was still single and becoming interested in art. It hangs in the Cohens' bedroom.

Lighting systems like the one the Cohens installed can run a few thousand dollars per room, with $1,500 to $1,800 going just for the metal rails and wiring.

It's important to work with an electrician who knows the building and "is familiar with what is behind the walls. You need a transformer for the lighting system, where to place it and then hide it," MacElree added.

Art holds a special and emotional place in the Cohen family. Rob Cohen proudly points out the dart holes in the canvas of that prized portrait of his father.

"There are two dart holes I made when I was 6 or 7 years old, when I was mad at my dad," he said. "Then, when I grew up and had my own son, he did the same thing, throwing a dart at the painting because he knew the artwork was so important to me."

And that's why Debbie and Rob Cohen love the new lighting for their artwork.

"We had the art displayed in our home in the suburbs, but had a lot more rooms in our old home - some were hanging in the living room, the sunroom, hallway, the exit to the pool room. The lighting wasn't anything special," Debbie Cohen said.

"It looks a whole lot better now than it did in its former residence."