Immersive Art Installation
United in Creativity
Technical Direction, Fabrication, 3D Modeling, Themed Experience Design
UCF Celebrates the Arts / United Arts of Central Florida, Spring 2026
United in Creativity is a 30-foot immersive art installation celebrating the creative disciplines of UCF's College of Arts and Humanities. Commissioned through United Arts and DTO Live!'s POP-UP Creative Storefronts Initiative. The piece transforms an underused breezeway beneath the 55 West building in downtown Orlando into a vibrant corridor of creative expression.
Technical Direction.
As Technical Director, I was responsible for the structural and production integrity of the installation from concept through fabrication and install. That meant conceiving the displays, modeling all components in 3D, overseeing the physical build, and coordinating six independent design teams, each tasked with representing a different arts discipline, to ensure every section functioned individually and read as a unified whole. The project was fabricated in partnership with CASTO Creative and supported by ModMan Training Center and Tideline Construction, requiring close coordination with industry professionals throughout the entire build process.
Designing the Framework
Early concepting of framework in Maya
The display system started as a concept developed in Maya, working out the proportions, depth, and overall structure of the vignette frames. Color schemes were selected and distributed upfront to give the installation cohesion across all six sections, but beyond that, every team had complete creative freedom to interpret their discipline however felt most authentic.
Modeling for Fabrication
Rhino renders of display framework
From there, I modeled the full display in Rhino, developing each component to the detail level needed for real-world fabrication and extracting technical specifications, dimensional drawings, panel sizes, mounting points, and depth limits that defined the physical framework each of the six teams would design within.
Fabrication
Finishing of framework displays
The final design spans 30 feet wide and 10 feet tall, divided into six sections representing the core disciplines of UCF's College of Arts and Humanities: dance, film, music, literature, visual arts, and themed experiences. Each vignette immerses viewers in the visual identity of its discipline, while the full display tells a single cohesive story about what happens when those fields intersect through collaboration. Individually, each section carries its own voice. Together, they form something larger than the sum of their parts. The installation was built with longevity in mind, sturdy enough to serve as an annual tradition for future UCF Celebrates the Arts festivals.
Themed Experience
Alongside managing the broader installation, I also designed and fabricated the Themed Experience display itself in collaboration with Dallas Kirkland. My focus within that display was the roller coaster element, which required heat-bending PVC pipe to form the track structure and 3D-printing the ride vehicles to sit within it. The process of moving from a designed concept to a physical, built piece was one of the more grounding parts of the project, and a reminder that the decisions made early in the design process have real consequences when working with the materials.
