Bazaar Collaborative Brings artist-centered textile collection to the Blackwell Inn

A new custom-designed textile collection from Bazaar Collaborative is now featured in every room of The Blackwell Inn and Pfahl Conference Center, showcasing the work of local artists and the entrepreneurial drive of a team of Ohio State graduates.

The project marks the first full-scale hotel installation for Bazaar Collaborative, a startup launched by Sarah Hallock and her team after participating in the 2023 President’s Buckeye Accelerator. The company designs sustainable, artist-driven home goods and developed a collection of pillows, bed runners and shams specifically for the Blackwell’s guest rooms.

“We created a custom textile collection for the Blackwell that features two incredible artists,” said Hallock, founder and CEO of Bazaar Collaborative. “Jeff Joseph is an oil painter whose embroidered artwork appears on pillows in every room, and Josh Schubert’s architectural collage is printed on the bed runners and shams. It’s a Scarlet and Gray transformation, designed specifically for the university’s signature hotel.”

The partnership positions the artists’ work for daily engagement by hundreds of guests and includes a QR code linking to a mini-documentary about Joseph’s work. In addition to design and impact, the collection was built with sustainability in mind: Bazaar used organic cotton fabric and filling made from recycled water bottles (rPET).

The collaboration was sparked by a cold outreach. “My team member Parker just reached out to the Blackwell and asked if they’d be open to meeting,” Hallock said. “We pitched the idea with no portfolio, and they said yes. They took a chance on us, and that gave us the opportunity to show what we could do.”

As a result of the project, Bazaar Collaborative has:

• Returned more than $3,000 to the participating artists through royalties
• Created a passive income stream for both the artists and the Blackwell
• Built a global supply chain spanning India, Europe and the United States
• Managed logistics and delivery in-house
• Delivered a licensed product line that meets Ohio State’s brand standards

Support from the Keenan Center for Entrepreneurship and funding from the President’s Buckeye Accelerator were key to bringing the project to life. “That accelerator money helped us put down the initial capital to produce the Blackwell collection,” Hallock said.

Cheryl Turnbull, senior director of the Keenan Center for Entrepreneurship, said Bazaar Collaborative demonstrates how Ohio State’s programs help students launch meaningful ventures.

“Sarah and the Bazaar Collaborative team are a strong example of how student entrepreneurs can turn creative ideas into real-world ventures,” Turnbull said. “They’ve built a business that blends design, sustainability and impact, and this project with the Blackwell shows how far they’ve come.”

Hallock said the most rewarding part of the project is the impact on the artists. “This may be the most money they’ve made from a single collaboration in their art career,” she said. “Jeff told me this is the highlight of his art career. That’s what makes it worth it.”