As one of the first four vendors selected for Boxyard RTP’s inaugural Holiday Pop-Up Shop, I was invited into a shared residency that placed local small businesses inside Boxyard’s vibrant shipping-container marketplace in Research Triangle Park. Running from November 2024 through mid-January 2025, the pop-up offered more than retail space — it created a public-facing environment where display, interaction, and creative process could all happen in real time.

I used my two wall sections to represent multiple facets of my work. In one, I built a storefront-style display for my custom-painted sneakers, art stickers, and a painted sneaker-and-canvas set from an ongoing series. In the other, I painted an 8-foot by 8-foot street art–inspired selfie mural that added an interactive visual anchor to the shared shop.

What made the residency especially meaningful was that it wasn’t only about what I brought into the space — it was also about what happened there. While working my shop shifts, I was able to paint commissions on location, including a custom ram jacket, allowing visitors to experience not just finished work, but the living process behind it. In that way, the residency became a small but vivid snapshot of my broader practice: muralist, customizer, live painter, and visual storyteller sharing space with the public.

Title: Street Art–Style Selfie Mural.
Size: 8' w x 8' h
Site/City: Boxyard RTP
Medium: Interior Latex Paint Date: November 2024.