Sisters Colleen and Hailey Brooks didn’t know they’d be working together one day when they were children, but when it came time for the two to join forces, they didn’t hesitate. Enter Highcourt, a leisure club devoted to upgrading downtime, and spearheaded by a mostly female team.
Slated to open in downtown New York City in Fall 2020, Highcourt’s mission is to improve leisure as we know it, with its flagship building spanning five floors, featuring a restaurant, lounge, rooftop, project space, hothouse, training studio, and more. The club will offer just the kind of things homebound New Yorkers are craving these days.
The two sisters came from different backgrounds before conceiving of Highcourt. Colleen had been working in private equity, while Hailey had a background in trend forecasting and retail-consulting. Once the pair realized they had a great idea on their hands, they set off developing the concept, finding partners, and fundraising, eventually both leaving their jobs to pursue their concept full-time.
We caught up with Colleen and Hailey to find out how, as leisure experts, they’re staying cool during quarantine and which artworks they’re currently eyeing in Artnet Galleries.
Colleen and Hailey’s Favorite Things
GO-TO DINNER (OR CONDIMENT)
Colleen: Tamales & Dimes’s hot sauce.
Hailey: Takeout from Jajaja on East Broadway.
PODCAST
Colleen: Monocle’s The Menu. It’s all about how our current quarantine is making the world rediscover the joys of cooking.
Hailey: The Daily from the New York Times.
BOOK YOU HAVEN’T FINISHED (BUT REALLY MEAN TO)
Colleen: Can’t think of any! But the book I’m most anticipating to drop is No Filter: The Inside Story of Instagram by Sarah Frier.
Hailey: 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami. I even own multiple copies… .
ICE CREAM FLAVOR
Colleen: Absolutely anything peanut butter.
Hailey: Pistachio.
MUSEUM
Colleen: Natural History.
Hailey: Fondazione Prada in Milan.
ARTIST
Colleen: Andrea Bowers, for championing a movement.
Hailey: It might be a tie for me right now between Haegue Yang and Mickalene Thomas after seeing Yang’s sculptural performance pieces at MoMA, and then both women’s work at the Bass Museum in Miami this past December.
QUARANTINE DISTRACTION
Colleen: Music. There’s a lot of playlist curation happening and live-stream mixing from artists you would normally have to wait to see perform live.
Hailey: It’s gotta be music too, I really miss live shows. That and my dog Pikachu <3.
AT-HOME OUTFIT
Colleen: Sweat sets and socks.
Hailey: Usually sweats over shorts, because I’m always overheating and then freezing cold.
PERSON TO VENT TO
Colleen and Hailey: Each other!
Colleen and Hailey’s Gallery Picks
I am drawn to art, design, architecture, and fashion where its sophistication is carried through simplicity and effortlessness: clean lines, symmetry, calming tonalities, understated beauty.—Colleen
My [taste] can range vastly, from Gothic realism to Postmodern fantasy. I am particularly drawn to the richness of color palettes and the emotions and stories that can be conveyed through colors, prints, and images.—Hailey
Nan Goldin
Orange Horizon, Rio (2003)
Courtesy of Marian Goodman Gallery.
Mickalene Thomas
Interior: Zebra with Two Chairs and Funky Fur (2014)
Courtesy of Tandem Press.
Beverly Fishman
Untitled (Split Anxiety) (2019)
Courtesy of Miles McEnery Gallery.
James Siena
Shifted Lattice (2006)
Courtesy of Artwise.
Lucio Fontana
Concetto Spaziale (1963)
Courtesy of Archille Salvagni Atelier.
Qin Qi
A Flower (2019)
Courtesy of Tang Contemporary.
Barkley L. Hendricks
Dr. Kool (1972)
Courtesy of ARCHEUS / POST-MODERN.
Candida Höfer
Benrather Schloss Düsseldorf V (2011)
Courtesy of Sean Kelly Gallery.