‍Meet the ArtCube™ Artists

These seven artists have created site-specific installations for ArtCube™. We reached out to see how the experience has changed their personal process and helped grow their professional and creative relationships across the city.

Dawrby Think Inside the Box, May 26, 2023

Anthony Darby, known professionally as Dawrby, was the first artist to create something for ArtCube™. That meant he had the unique challenge of setting a template for how it could be used — how to make something that would live inside a 10' cube and still breathe. 

The artist is known for his distinct figures, done in a kind of evolved cubism, somewhere between city glyphs and dream creatures. 

For the debut, he spray-painted the plywood walls and interior as background for an installation featuring those familiar forms, in his distinctive, angular style. The installation also included a looping background video in the back that showed him in process—spray can in hand, layering motion over motion. People standing outside the space could look inside and see him work 24/7. (See Dawrby's opening night photos.)

As his introduction to live public art, the ArtCube™ installation sparked a fire in the artist, and he now treats the city like a sketchbook, making public art as a pop-up experience.

He has shown work or created work live at venues all across the city, from IMMERSE Fest, an epic interactive performance festival that takes over 10 blocks of downtown Orlando, to smaller venues like Redlight Redlight Brewpub and the Timucua Arts Foundation.

He’s been in multiple shows, including CityArts and the Space Station, and was part of CityArts’ mural festival. And he’s done something more challenging to define: he’s become omnipresent. During a workshop hosted by Assemblage, Dawryby sketched participants mid-conversation, mid-pour, but he was also a participant himself. That’s his approach—fully engaged, not just documenting but contributing, his presence integrated rather than performative. 

Dawrby has said his early experiences—especially ArtCube™—helped him see what was possible with his art, which isn’t bound by one type of medium or venue. That openness—stylistically, spatially, socially—is part of what’s made him one of the most visible artists in Orlando, and one of the most generous. (Which is likely one of the reasons he was nominated as Best Local Visual Artist by Orlando Weekly in 2025.) His work isn’t only about aesthetics; it’s about participation, space activation, and interaction. Murals and events are not isolated moments, but part of a continuum—one long sketch in progress, reminding us that public art doesn’t have to be permanent to have an impact. 

A.J. Barbel Dreams in Dimensions, December 21, 2023

When multidisciplinary artist Achille “A.J.” Barbel was offered the chance to create a work for ArtCube™, he decided to do an installation that paid homage to the Parramore District and its history. 

Barbel’s Parramore “Theater” reimagines the neighborhood’s historic landmarks through storytelling and a variety of mediums, including projected video collages, paintings, audio, and 3D-printed sculptures, paired with a rolling video that showed his process in creating the different elements. In his reimagined village installation, he was able to tell the history of Parramore, from its time as a thriving Black neighborhood through the impacts of racism and the Jim Crow era. (See AJ's opening night photos, here.)

A.J. says he enjoys making art that tells stories, and he cites his ArtCube™ installation as a great learning experience that helped him imagine possibilities in his presentation. Inspired by the crossovers between traditional illustration and digital art, he is an artist whose work and life are all about experimenting with possibility. He has embraced storytelling through creating murals in Parramore and Eatonville, and has led fine-art workshops in conjunction with the Art of Collab collective. As a freelance graphic artist, he designs everything from prints to T-shirts and stickers.

He is also building a YouTube channel as an outlet to showcase his first stop-motion animation film, Plastic Paradise, as well as other 2D animations. And he is working on an inspirational children’s book, aimed for ages 3-7, that he hopes to have published soon. He also hosts a chess club as a side hobby, and continues his education in additional trade skills. 

Delia Miller Celestial Surrealism, April 18, 2024

Artist Delia Miller’s ArtCube™ installation, titled Celestial Surrealism, fit the title perfectly. It had a dreamy, otherworldly feel, somewhere between a science center and a storybook. Her painted walls were a soft blend of nature and space, and a looping video of stars gave the interior a sense of floating, like stepping into a quiet dream. (See Delia's opening night photos of the exhibition, here.)

Delia was working on earning her private pilot’s license when she took on the installation, and says that being in the air—hovering somewhere between the clouds and the earth—was a big part of her inspiration for the piece. The cube became a visual metaphor for that liminal space between sky and forest, between movement and stillness.

Since her ArtCube™ debut, Delia has been on a clear and accelerating trajectory. She’s been teaching youth art classes at ArtReach Orlando, where she led her own course. She’s painted murals for OCPS elementary schools, neighborhoods in Pine Hills, a new food hall in Apopka, and even a rooftop in downtown Orlando.

She has also worked collaboratively with Rollins College on a student mural project and has just completed her second solo out-of-state mural, this one in Milwaukee.

She participated in a mural festival at Sam Flax, and in addition, she has secured artist residencies both in-state and abroad. Somewhere between painting murals, leading workshops, and flying planes, Delia has built a practice that’s both grounded and constantly in motion.

The artist credits the ArtCube™ experience with helping her expand both personally and professionally as an artist. “I believe that the show has instilled in me the confidence to proceed as a solo artist capable of curating, developing, and presenting a themed art show,” she says. “Developing my installation at ArtCube was a new undertaking, something I had not yet explored.” She credits the creative freedom and the supportive team as helping her develop skills that she is taking into her artistic career.

Since Celestial Surrealism, she’s approached each new project with strengthened confidence, willing to say yes to challenges that would’ve once felt out of reach. ArtCube™ gave her a launch pad, but the momentum is all hers. 

Jordan Jones  Virtuoso, June 20, 2024

Jordan Jones—also known as JJ the Artist—doesn’t just fill space, he charges it. With Virtuoso, his installation for ArtCube™, Jones delivered a piece that transformed the compact, transparent cube into something much larger: a portal, stage and monument.

Inside ArtCube™, his portraits of Black cultural icons—Tupac, Erykah Badu, Jean-Michel Basquiat, and others—didn’t simply hang, they glowed. They confronted each other. They radiated power. Framed by the Cube’s walls and lit from within, each image became almost holographic, suspended in space like a devotional object. The subjects—already towering in influence—feel even more monumental when seen illuminated against the night sky.

But what made Virtuoso truly effective in this setting was motion. Behind the static portraits, Jones projected a looped video of himself painting, fully engaged in the act of creation. By adding rhythm, urgency, and vulnerability, the viewer didn’t just see the finished work—they knew the labor that went into it. (See photos from JJ's opening night, and the closing reception, here.)

This pairing of video and portrait made powerful use of ArtCube™’s architecture. In daylight, the forms held their own; at night, they came alive as color leaked into the street, and gestures were amplified. The intimate scale of the Cube paradoxically made the work feel bigger, because you couldn’t walk by without engaging.

Jones’s decision to focus Virtuoso on musical and cultural icons tied directly to the installation’s debut during African American Music Appreciation Month. But the piece doesn’t rely on nostalgia. These are not passive tributes. There’s something active—almost confrontational—in the way each figure is rendered. These are artists who shaped culture from the margins, who changed the tone of entire eras. Jones mirrored that force in his mark-making: fast, expressive, intentional. In that context, Virtuoso isn’t just an installation—it’s a declaration, a visual manifesto.

The installation didn’t just represent others’ virtuosity; it demonstrated his own growth as an artist. Over the past year, Jones has been steadily establishing himself as a vital visual voice in Florida. He painted murals at Nash Walls and JaxWall, won top honors at the Daytona Beach Arts Fest, and completed a private series of paintings at the sold-out Health Con. He also recently painted a mural for a school in New York, honoring the Mirabal Sisters, Dominican revolutionaries assassinated in 1960. And he has a series of baseball-card style small prints called Culture Cards, which spotlight Black musicians like Biggie Smalls and Rick Ross, as well as riffs on card games using items prominent in hip-hop culture. 

ArtCube™, with its glowing frame and street-level intimacy, heightens the contrast between public visibility and personal reverence, making the work impossible to ignore. Jones has a similar effect; his work consistently lifts figures who resisted, persisted, and created under pressure. Rather than diluting his voice to fit the space, he uses whatever space and medium he has to project his ideas even further. 

Alexis Kayla Collum  NOTICE, October 17, 2024

When self-described artivist (artist and activist) Alexis Collum was invited to do a piece for ArtCube™ Gallery, her background was firmly rooted in painting. So she was unsure about how to incorporate the digital element needed for the space. “As a painter, I was initially apprehensive about creating a digital video element for my installation NOTICE,” she says. “But I was surprised and pleased with how the whole installation came together in the end.”

Inviting her to embrace video added an emotional layer, and she didn’t just accept the challenge—she surpassed it. The result was a cinematic, dreamlike installation that married painted gestures with digital projection. Inspired by forest environments, NOTICE transformed the Cube into a poetic meditation on nature and memory—quiet, immersive, beautiful. (See the Parramore Arts opening night exhibition images, here.)

A personal and professional challenge, the piece encouraged her to open up her artistic practice to new possibilities. It wasn’t about adding tools, but deepening her language.

Since NOTICE, Alexis’s career has taken exciting shape in diverse directions. Drawing on her visual sensibility, she has stepped confidently into the world of theatrical design. She worked with lead scenic designer Grant Preisser on his world-class stage sets for Opera Orlando —featured in productions like Macbeth, which showcased a new level of visually arresting stagecraft.

She’s also worked with Orlando Shakes, the cornerstone of Central Florida’s professional theatre scene, known for merging bold storytelling with elegant design. And she recently joined the creative team at Universal’s Epic Universe, the new immersive theme park in Orlando that houses worlds like Super Nintendo World, Wizarding World of Harry Potter, Isle of Berk, and Dark Universe—each blending atmosphere and narrative through elaborate scenic environments. 

Despite her growing portfolio, the community activist remains committed to empowering young artists. She teaches at ArtReach, the local nonprofit that supports youth facing social or economic hardship through art-based healing and mentorship. There, she shares not only her skill but the belief that creativity can foster resilience and possibility.

From apprehensive painter to multimedia storyteller, Alexis Collum’s journey is a testament to what happens when risk meets openness—and how one installation in a cube can pivot a creative life.

Peterson Guerrier Seats of Solitude, January 16, 2025

Artist and photographer Peterson is a prolific creator who has left his mark with numerous murals around town, many done in conjunction with RedTape Orlando, the multidisciplinary studio he co-owns with fellow artist Chris Jones. One of their most notable works is the large-scale mural  Achromatic Aria Fresco: An Ode to Harmony, which spans 6,000 square feet on the west side of City Centre and was done entirely free-handed, with paint brushes, rollers and scaffolds in a style similar to classic frescoes, long before the advent of spray paint or projection mapping.  

Peterson’s ArtCube™ project was a total departure from his mural work, and unlike anything he’s showcased before. For the installation, he replicated a municipal bus ride, filming from the front seat to capture the experience of watching the bus navigate traffic and seeing riders board and disembark, all while the driver announced approaching stops.

This project was deeply personal. Peterson grew up in Miami and rode the bus regularly. Because of this, he saw how bus riders often face different perceptions than drivers in cars, and how that reflects class divides. His installation was not only a brilliant snapshot of the bus ride experience but also a captivating visual journey. (See Peterson's opening night at Parramore Arts, here.)

Peterson is always ready to rise to new challenges. His paintings have been shown in venues including the Mennello Museum of American Art, Aqua Miami Art Basel and Snap Orlando. With Chris Jones, he continues to run RedTape Orlando. This downtown creative house works on everything from large-scale public art to private design for interior designers and collectors to live art events, where they create art in their storefront window, allowing passersby to watch art in progress. Their latest public project was the Floral Odyssey mural located at 1 S. Orange, a colorful ode to the connection between creativity and community.

Calling Peterson prolific doesn’t do him justice. He and RedTape have created numerous murals, and despite being frequently commissioned, Peterson always finds ways to give back to the community. As part of that growth, they are currently working on launching a new art line and storefront, to make their work even more accessible to the public. 

Angel Rodriguez Lozada The Light’s Yours, April 17, 2025

Angel Rodriguez Lozada is the founder of 302 Interactive, a local company focused on video game and experience design. But there was always another type of artist within him, waiting for a different kind of platform. ArtCube™ turned out to be that platform.

Angel has spent years building digital experiences, primarily for commercial clients, including theme parks and entertainment venues. His background is game design, but not in the typical sense. He approaches it more like a sculpture—shaped with code and interaction, rather than wood or clay. The invitation for him to participate in ArtCube™ offered a unique opportunity to shift his medium, but it was a risk to take on something so different. He jumped at the chance. He said later that although he hadn’t been actively seeking out art opportunities, he’d quietly wanted to do something like this for years.

His piece, That Light’s Yours, was installed in April and utilized over 100 strings suspended from the cube’s ceiling to the floor—each one part of a responsive environment that changed in real time as viewers approached. He used a depth camera and the cube’s built-in projection system to create an immersive experience that literally reflected the presence of passersby quite literally. It stopped people in their tracks. (See Angel's debut in the ArtCube, here.)

Angel was doing something outside of his comfort zone, but you wouldn’t have known it watching the work unfold. The strings caught the light like beams frozen in space. The projection mapping shimmered and responded like a digital echo. It felt like the installation had always been meant to inhabit that space, even though it had come together over a couple of weeks of intense brainstorming and experimentation.

Angel said later that this was the first time his background in theme parks, video games, and digital design all flowed together into something entirely his own—something that didn’t answer a client's brief. It was interactive, sure, but it was also personal. He called it a first step.

Since the installation has come down, Angel has been connecting with more local artists and organizations—offering advice to the future ArtCube™ artists, loaning out gear, even starting conversations with CityArts and Creative Village for future collaborations. He said that this experience has helped him feel part of the larger local art community for the first time in his career.

And maybe that’s one of the most powerful things about this work—not just what it gave the audience, but what it gave the artist. Angel said he’s been back at work on commercial projects, but now he’s also filling a notebook with sketches for his next interactive art piece — not for a client, not for a paycheck, but for himself.

With his installation, Angel wanted to challenge assumptions about game design. The team behind ArtCube™ wanted to challenge assumptions about public art. Somewhere in the middle, That Light’s Yours appeared—quiet, luminous, and deeply human. It reminded us that sometimes the most impactful art doesn’t ask for attention; it simply reflects it.

About ArtCube™

ArtCube™, a unique public art venue created and funded by Interstruct, opened in May 2023 on Orlando’s West Church Corridor. It sits at the heart of Interstruct’s Parramore redevelopment and its Parramore Arts initiative—a “gallery without walls” designed to connect people with free access to art where they live, work, and gather. The glass-fronted, multimedia installation space faces the sidewalk, engaging passersby from the neighborhood and visitors heading to the nearby soccer stadium.

Since its launch, ArtCube™ gave local artists an opportunity to challenge themselves by creating site-specific multimedia installations. Now, past artists come to see new work, others imagine how they’d create in the space. It is proof that public art can do more than beautify—it can anchor a block, shape perception, and influence how a neighborhood evolves. In an era where developers are rethinking how to activate ground floors, plazas, and pedestrian zones, ArtCube™ stands as a prototype: scalable, flexible, and reflecting its community. Its artistic ripples extend far beyond Parramore, strengthening Orlando’s creative ecosystem while reframing how art is valued in the context of urban development.

Here’s a look back at how each artist approached their installation, and how the challenge has informed their work, connected with their audience, and contributed to their creative lives.

ArtCube™ as a Creative Challenge

ArtCube™’s installation-style space is formed from a shipping container that’s been cut in half and fabricated into a gallery viewed through an architectural glass portal that faces the street. Every installation inside the cube uses artificial light. Since people don’t go inside, the spectacle of light is what catches their attention. If you're walking or driving by and see flashing lights or a glow after dark, that’s the invitation.

Many of the seven Orlando-area artists who have had installations here hadn’t worked with video or artificial light before. Some were apprehensive; others embraced the challenge. 

In every case, the artistic process began with a discussion of concept, a little brainstorming, and a lot of trust. Many of the artists ended up doing something outside their comfort zone, and they all delivered something memorable and beautiful. Post-installation, they have taken that experience and inspiration forward into their artistic endeavors, which further strengthens and expands the fabric of Orlando’s artist community. 

ArtCube™ as Incubator and Connector: A Note from Curator Pat Green

I mentioned that a large part of my initial and continued interest in the ArtCube™ is to showcase the possibilities of public art and to consider how it connects with the community. 

Many pieces of public art appear to have been decided upon by a committee and seem to lack a sense of originality, as if they don’t want to ruffle feathers. As a result, it is often uninteresting. 

The ArtCube™ is a vision. We didn’t think about ruffling feathers. We thought about giving something beautiful to the community. 

The idea that ArtCube™ is unfamiliar territory for most artists has factored into why the results have been so surprising and interesting. The brainstorming with artists usually starts with explaining what ArtCube is, and why it is essential to bring light (literally) into the space. 

That was always a prime intention of what ArtCube™ can do: Expand what public art can be, and who gets to make it.

Each of the artists has created an installation that was distinctly different from their previous projects. At the same time, their voices have been clear. They just expanded their vocabulary.