This Spring 2019 season of High Point Market in North Carolina, guests were able to tour the captivating new 150,000 square foot Markor Art Center in the Hamilton Wrenn district for the very first time.

At the April show, House Tipster Industry host and Arch-Interiors designer Christopher Grubb spoke exclusively with Mark Feng, President of International Affairs and International Business Division.

During our exclusive tour of the art-filled Markor Art Center, Feng spoke all about the personal family inspiration for the stunning new building, and even shared the story behind the China-based furnishings company.

“This is the house for two of our brands, A.R.T. Furniture and Caracole,” Feng said of the impressive new three-floor construction.

The inspiration of the ultra-modern yet historically influenced building “starts from one man,” according to Feng. To illustrate his point, he showed off a grand bronze sculpture – made by that one man, his father – that is located right in the building’s lobby.

“The inspiration for this sculpture is the inspiration of this building,” he said. “The inspiration came from his culture, and also the city of Matera… a Southern Italian city.”

“[My father’s] been a student of the arts, and he started this all from the Silk Roads, which is our hometown in the middle of nowhere,” Feng explained. “All [kinds] of cultures are interwoven together [there]: Greek culture, Roman, Persian, Chinese culture. He started from one marker, one lone artist who started it all. That’s where the name Markor comes from. He obviously couldn’t patent the name ‘marker,’ so changed the ‘e’ to an ‘o.'”

“He viewed this opportunity, this [Art Center] architecture, as a way of looking to the future,” Feng added.

To take a full tour around the vast Markor Art Center HPMKT space for yourself, and to hear more from Christopher Grubb’s enlightening conversation with Mark Feng, be sure to press play on House Tipster Industry’s exclusive live video below.