ROME — In the lobby of the Bettoia Hotel Mediterraneo a second-century marble goddess now greets guests, blinking into the light after more than 30 years in a museum storeroom. We met Tracy Roberts, founder of Love Italy and the force behind Arte Fuori dal Museo. With around 85 percent of Italy’s state-owned art said to sit in storage, she wants hotels, and one day banks and post offices, to adopt forgotten works, fund their restoration and show them. The pilot already reaches about 10 Roman hotels.

Q. A Roman goddess in a hotel lobby. Where did the idea come from?

“It starts with a conversation. It began with the Bettoia family, who had been hosting Love Italy events where we fundraise for restoration projects. So why not bring the works on display in hotels?”

Q. Why this piece first, and how did you persuade the ministry?

“After we signed the protocol agreement, we found the first museum. It’s always difficult being the first, but that set a precedent. Together with the Bettoia Hotels and the National Roman Museum, we went into their storerooms, and there she was in a corner. She had been there at least 30 years.”

Q. Did she speak to you when you saw her?

“She did. She was so beautiful, and she just wanted to come out and see the light.”

Q. What makes the project work for hotels and museums alike?

“It’s like an open museum in hotels, open 24 hours a day. It brings out art hidden in the museums, and it sends people to museums that are less visited, because everyone goes to the Colosseum, the Vatican Museums, the Borghese Gallery. The hotels pay for the restoration. It’s a sustainable way to bring the works out of the storerooms.”

Q. What comes next?

“The pilot is starting in Rome, and we will be in about 10 hotels. I would love to be in all Rome museums showcasing these works, then throughout Italy, and then why not abroad? Why not the post offices, the banks, international companies?”