Wender·Vista
Lookout Studio
shown on ceramic, 12-inch tileArizona
on the South Rim of the Grand Canyon, west of Bright Angel Lodge

Lookout Studio

— — a small stone room built to disappear into the cliff.

— Where it lives

Not only on a wall.

A small tile on the nightstand catching the morning. A larger one above the fire. Yours, wherever you spend the slow hours.
— On the nightstand, a 6-inch on a walnut stand
— Among the books, a 6-inch leaning into the spines
— Beside the kettle, a 12-inch propped
— Down a quiet hall, an 18-inch floating off the wall
— Above the fire, the 24-inch in a walnut surround
— a note from the studio

“A low stone building at the very edge of the South Rim, set so close to the drop that the rough masonry seems to grow from the limestone itself. Mary Colter drew it in 1914 to look as if the canyon had built it. From the back terrace the Bright Angel Trail switches down into the inner gorge, and the Colorado River shows only as a line of shadow.

from the studio
Lookout Studio
— bring it home

Lookout Studio, on ceramic.

Each tile is finished by hand in our Knoxville studio. Artwork is slowly infused into the ceramic surface under high heat and pressure, and rests beneath a thin glossy finish. The colour lives in the surface, not on top of it.

What kind of piece?
One tile — square or rectangle.
How big?
the popular one — counter, shelf, nightstand
6 × 6 in · 15 cm · 1.6 lb
Surface finish
A clear glossy finish — the artwork reads as if under resin. Ideal for show-pieces and framed wall art.
How it sits
A hidden cleat — sits ¼″ proud of the wall.
$58
Hand-finished and shipped from our studio at the foot of the Smokies. On your wall in about ten days.
— size
6 × 6 in
15 cm
— weighs
1.6 lb
solid in the hand
— surface
ceramic, hand-finished
art rests beneath a thin glossy finish
— from
Knoxville, TN
our family studio, at the foot of the Smokies
— start a Coaster Set

Pick any four 4-inch tiles — National Parks you've been to, a Smokies set, the four seasons of one place. $ for a set of , cork-backed, ready to live on the table.

— about Lookout Studio

The place, in three passes.

A little of what's known, in case you fall down the rabbit hole — or want to go see it yourself.
— the place

Lookout Studio sits at the rim of the Grand Canyon a short walk west of Bright Angel Lodge in Grand Canyon Village. Architect Mary Colter designed it in 1914 for the Fred Harvey Company as a photo studio and observation point, intentionally massed from rough Kaibab limestone so its silhouette would read as part of the cliff. The building is a contributing structure in the Grand Canyon Village National Historic Landmark District.

— the stone

The walls are dry-laid Kaibab limestone gathered nearby, broken on uneven courses so the roofline imitates the natural ledges of the rim. Colter studied the Ancestral Puebloan ruins of the Southwest before drawing the plan and wanted the studio to look weathered from the day it opened. The chimney is asymmetric on purpose. From the trail below the building can be hard to pick out against the cliff.

— the visit

The studio is open daily, free with park admission, and operated by the park concessioner as a small shop and viewpoint. Two terraces step down toward the rim with stone benches and a clear line of sight across to the North Rim, ten miles across as the raven flies. Sunrise and the last hour before sunset draw the largest groups; mid-morning in winter is the quietest stretch.

— informed by NPS Grand Canyon
— where
United States · Grand Canyon Village, Coconino County, Arizona
— within
Grand Canyon National Park
— elevation
2,103 m · 6,900 ft
— position
36.0566° N · 112.1408° W
— the neighborhood

What's nearby.

A handful of named places within an hour's walk or short drive. Some we've already painted; some we will.
0.1 km E
Bright Angel Lodge
historic lodge
0.4 km E
Hopi House
Mary Colter building
0.4 km E
El Tovar Hotel
historic hotel
N
Lookout Studio
Bright Angel Lodge
Hopi House
El Tovar Hotel
— common questions

What people ask.

A few questions we get about Lookout Studio — and about bringing the piece home.
— about the place

Mary Colter, the Fred Harvey Company's chief architect, drew the studio in 1914. She designed several other landmark buildings along the South Rim, including Hopi House, Hermits Rest, the Desert View Watchtower, and Bright Angel Lodge itself.

Colter laid up the walls in rough Kaibab limestone from the rim and stepped the roofline to mimic the natural ledges. She studied Ancestral Puebloan ruins before drawing the plan and intended the building to read as weathered from the day it opened.

A small bookstore and gift shop run by the park concessioner, plus interpretive panels and large windows looking out over the canyon. The building was originally a photography studio for visitors arriving by Santa Fe Railway.

Yes, entry to the studio is free once you are inside Grand Canyon National Park. The park charges a vehicle fee for entry, currently $35 for a seven-day pass, and the studio is reachable on foot from the Village shuttle stops.

The Bright Angel Trail switchbacks straight down into the inner gorge below. Across the canyon the North Rim sits about ten miles away. The Colorado River is visible as a thin line of shadow in the bottom of the inner canyon.

— about the piece in your home

Often it is. The studio is the South Rim view many visitors remember, framed by Colter's stone window. A Medium reads well on a study wall or above a desk.

The piece carries warm sandstone and shadow blues, which sit well with southwestern, desert-modern, and rustic-modern rooms. The stone tones cross over to oak, leather, and unglazed pottery.

A single Large carries a six-foot sofa. For an eight-foot sofa or a long console, a four-tile Mural lets the canyon open across the wall; a nine-tile Mural is for a feature wall.

Yes, in the Dura Satin or Matte finish. Both are scratch-resistant and stand up to steam and humidity, which suits backsplashes, shower surrounds, and powder rooms.

A soft microfibre cloth and clean water. No solvents, no abrasives. The colour is slowly infused into the ceramic surface under high heat and pressure and lives in the surface itself.

Yes. Every WenderVista piece is painted in the studio's own visual language by Reid Wender and finished in Knoxville, Tennessee. Nothing is licensed from another source and the work is sold only through Wender Studios.

— if this one stayed with you

A few you might also love.

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