GRAPHIC ENCOUNTER | ART + MIRRORS + FRAMING + PROFESSIONAL FINE ART CONSULTING TO THE CONTRACT HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY SINCE 1970

turbulent and exciting times for the United States. Richard Nixon was President, anti-war demonstrators marched on Washington, D.C., Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walked on the Moon. Vietnam. Kent State. Woodstock. Jack Nicholson's Five Easy Pieces was just released; Simon & Garfunkel's Bridge Over Troubled Waters and the Beatles' Let it Be were the popular songs of the day. 1970 was also the year when Ron Golbus started his art consulting and picture frame manufacturing business from his California one-car garage, paralleling other modest start-ups such as Mattel, Wham-O, the Walt Disney Company and Hewlett-Packard.

From the 70's through the 80's

Ron sold laminated wall art door-to-door to offices in the Los Angeles area, and hired teams of sales people to develop commercial accounts in the booming multi-housing industry. Graphic Encounter's sales efforts expanded to the Hospitality Industry, and Hilton Hotels was Ron's first client in that marketplace. To meet the needs of his new and very important client, Ron widened his product line to include custom-framed prints and posters. Unique to Graphic Encounter's offerings were custom-colored, hand-silkscreened serigraphs to match any decor or color theme. Working closely with demanding, quality-conscious interior designers and architectural firms, Ron saw the need to control the manufacturing process, and opened his first factory on the West Side of Los Angeles.

The year was 1990

when Mr. Charles Silverman, President of the renowned interior design firm, Yates-Silverman, Inc., awarded Ron the prestigious contract to design, publish and custom-frame prints of knights in shining armor for the Excalibur Hotel in Las Vegas...the first 3,000 room hotel in the world.

In 1996

Ron's passion for skiing and the outdoor life motivated him to relocate his business and family to Basalt, Colorado - a small turn-of-the-century railroad town, fourteen miles from the skiing Mecca of Aspen. Ron and his wife Carolyn have three beautiful children: Ryan, Chandler, and Garrett.

In 2003

the venerable interior design firm, Wynn Design and Development, awarded Graphic Encounter the contract to custom-frame the legendary Pop art of Andy Warhol, and the Cubist art of Pablo Picasso, for the 2,600-plus guest rooms and suites of Wynn Las Vegas, the world's most expensive hotel.