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UAP Urban Art Projects

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UAP Urban Art Projects

Incredible things don’t just happen; They’re created, nurtured, believed in. Spanning art, architectu

Incredible things don’t just happen; they’re created, nurtured, believed in. Arts, culture, and creativity have always played a vital role in bringing people together. We continue this tradition with an enduring belief that creativity can inspire incredible possibilities. Established in 1993 by brothers Matt and Dan Tobin, their modest Brisbane practice has evolved into a global art and design

studio and workshop. Today, our network comprises three key studios and facilities in New York, Brisbane and Shanghai, and seven worldwide satellite offices in Sydney, Melbourne, Chengdu, Shenzhen, Singapore, Los Angeles and Riyadh. From the design studio to the factory floor, we work across all aspects of the creative process, from commissioning and curatorial services, concept development, and design assistance to engineering, fabrication, and installation. With an ingrained culture of collaboration, our diverse team of creative specialists, strategists and practitioners share an enduring vision for the future. By pairing exceptional strategies and manufacturing capabilities with our team’s unrivalled dedication to excellence, we ensure that our generation creates timeless and relevant objects, ideas, and places that will inspire and connect people for generations to come. As a company, this is the common ground on which we move forward.

06/08/2026

Kelly Akashi, ‘Monument (Heirloom) 2026’

A lost ring became a 300-pound sculpture.

Presented at Lisson Gallery from 13 May to 25 July 2026, Kelly Akashi’s sculpture ring focuses on memory, inheritance, and the emotional weight carried by personal objects. Following the wake of the Los Angeles Eaton Fire, which destroyed the artist’s home and studio, the work draws from experiences of loss while considering what remains.

Weighing approximately 300 pounds and fabricated from stainless steel and hand-carved stone, the sculpture balances permanence with fragility through its material presence and surface detail.

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Image Credit: Exhibition view of ‘Kelly Akashi: Heirloom,’ Lisson, New York, 13 May – 25 July 2026 ©Kelly Akashi, Courtesy Lisson

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06/07/2026

Kelly Akashi, ‘Monument (Heirloom) 2026’

Kelly Akashi is a Los Angeles-based artist whose practice encompasses sculpture, glass, photography, bronze, and stone. Drawing from craft traditions and material processes, her work often reflects on impermanence, memory, and the relationship between the body and the natural world.

Working closely with the artist, we digitally sculpted and scaled the ring from a low-resolution reference image and a series of conversations with the artist. After the original ring was lost in the Los Angeles fires, the form had to be reimagined entirely through a digital process shaped by ongoing collaboration and iteration.

Fabricated in high-polish stainless steel and paired with a hand-carved Lemurian Blue Granite stone, the work required extensive refinement to achieve the artist’s intended rough-hewn surface quality. Our Design and Project Management teams developed new reference imagery and worked alongside fabricators to guide the stone carving approach, balancing precision with the irregularities that give the piece its distinct character.

Our Rock Tavern team was happy to collaborate with Akashi and Quarra Stone to bring ‘Monument (Heirloom) 2026’ to the Lisson Gallery in New York.

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Image Credit: Chris Roque, courtesy of UAP | Urban Art Projects

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06/03/2026

Donna Marcus, ‘Trellis’, 2025

‘Trellis’ features two soffit-mounted artwork components with integrated lighting. One consists of a single-layer design, showcasing 228 elegantly arranged aluminium die-cast steamers in a captivating hexagonal form that weighs 136kg. The other is more intricate with its five layers, comprising 270 steamers and weighing 102kg. The integration of lighting enhances the artwork, illuminating the vibrant shapes and shadows. Together, this piece add further depth and dimension to the space.

Marcus expands an iconic body of public artworks across Brisbane with her distinct use of pattern. Using repeated modules arranged in bold, structured compositions, the work reflects the rhythms of the city’s urban landscape while giving the building a distinct identity.

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Image Credit: Rachel See, courtesy UAP | Urban Art Projects

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06/02/2026

Donna Marcus, ‘Trellis’, 2025

Artist Donna Marcus is recognised for her innovative use of discarded aluminium kitchenware. She transforms the humble yet ubiquitous objects into an elegant statement. Fusing mechanical and organic, industrial and domestic, the artwork reveals the beauty in the ordinary.

Commissioned by Frasers Property Australia, we collaborated with Marcus to create ‘Trellis’, which was installed at WeAreLiving Brunswick, located at 210 Brunswick St, Brisbane. We took the lead as the Public Art Curator and Delivery Partner. From crafting the Art Opportunities Report to selecting the artist, providing creative briefings, handling contracting, supporting design development, technical design and undertaking artwork fabrication and installation, we proudly oversaw the entire journey.

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Image Credit: Rachel See, UAP | Urban Art Projects

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06/01/2026

Thijs Biersteker, 'Forestate', 2026

Imitating a living, breathing forest, ‘Forestate’ sources from the "Ecological Civilisation Construction in China" dataset, provided by the UNESCO Beijing Office. This dataset was compiled under the guidance of Shahbaz Khan, the Director and Representative of the UNESCO Regional Office for East Asia, and Ai Sugiura, a Natural Sciences Programme Specialist. It has been reviewed and confirmed by the Coordinator of UNESCO’s Man and the Biosphere Programme. The data set vividly illustrates the rapid recovery of China's forests over the past 39 years.

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Image Credit: Rawvision

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05/31/2026

Thijs Biersteker, Forestate, 2026

Thijs Biersteker is an artist whose data-driven artworks transform complex environmental research into immersive installations and experiences. His projects combine scientific data with recycled plastics, kinetic plants, biodiversity datasets, and living trees equipped with sensors and artificial intelligence. This unique approach allows people to visualise the real-world impacts on biodiversity and the health of our planet.

With ‘Forestate’, data seemingly grows like a forest. Thijs Biersteker turns decades of environmental research into a responsive installation that demonstrates the changing state of China’s forests.

Created with support from our Qidong workshop and presented at the Shanghai Science and Technology Museum, the piece blends scientific data, artificial intelligence, and sustainable materials. A suspended structure expands outward like a living organism, while leaves emerge and recede, representing cycles of deforestation and recovery.

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Image Credit: RAWVISION Studio

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05/29/2026

The 2026 PACCIN Preparators Conference in Stockholm last week was full of passionate craftspeople, sharing knowledge, and making connections. During the “Collaborative Futures of AR in the Arts” session, our Senior Designer, Kay Dartt, teamed up with Ian Mullen, Head of Rigging at UOVO, SF, to discuss the role of augmented reality in creating a monumental outdoor commission by artist Leonardo Drew.

Drew is renowned for his intuitive and site-responsive practice, often allowing his work to evolve organically through material experimentation and improvisation. Translating that creative process into a permanent outdoor sculpture required fresh approaches, balancing spontaneity with the structural and logistical demands of a long-term public installation. With the aid of AR technology, Drew was able to visualise and refine sculptural elements in real-time, both in the fabrication studio and directly on-site before fabrication commenced.

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Image Credit: Ian Mullen and Kay Dratt, courtesy of UAP | Urban Art Projects

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05/28/2026

Rockwell Group LAB, ‘Tree of Generations’, 2025

‘Tree of Generations’ is an innovative installation that serves as a testament to the diverse experiences and narratives that define the American Dream. With a 29-foot-diameter canopy, a 26-foot-diameter base, a height of 24 feet, and a weight of 8107 pounds, this impressive structure serves as a focal point for passersby. Located at the Milken Center for the Advancement of the American Dream (MCAAD) in Washington, DC, this vibrant artwork features over 1,000 glowing OLED images.

These images capture the faces and stories of visitors, making each individual part of a larger tapestry that reflects the collective journey of striving for and achieving the American Dream.

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Image Credit: Ron Blunt Studio

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05/26/2026

Rockwell Group LAB, ‘Tree of Generations’, 2025

'Tree of Generations' features an internal steel frame that supports a cast aluminium trunk and branches. The trunk is divided into four quadrants, each containing one primary branch, nine secondary branches, 63 tertiary branches, and 504 quaternary branches. The primary and secondary branches are made of cast aluminium, while the tertiary and quaternary branches are constructed from laser-cut aluminium tubes, which are welded into assemblies and bolted to the cast branches.

Each quaternary branch is adorned with a combination of dichroic film leaves and OLED screens. The screens utilise Power over Ethernet (PoE) technology and are wired through the branches and down the trunk, culminating in the brain of the tree, which is concealed beneath 20 cast aluminium base panels. The OLED screens are programmed to display images individually or to work together to present a single image, functioning as individual pixels in a "takeover" mode.

We worked closely with the installer Bison Fine Art Services, Design & Production (responsible for AV/OLED integration and exhibition production), Rockwell Group LAB (the designer), and MCAAD (the end user/client).

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Image Credit: Chris Roque, courtesy of UAP | Urban Art Projects

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05/24/2026

Rockwell Group LAB, ‘Tree of Generations’, 2025

Rockwell Group is a multidisciplinary architecture and design firm that unite performance and architecture to create exceptional experiences worldwide. Their team emphasises connection and community, crafting unique narratives for projects in hospitality, museum exhibitions, products, education, transportation, and set design.

Their latest permanent installation, ‘Tree of Generations,’ began with over 2 years of design and production. It was then 3D-printed and cast using the lost-wax technique at our Rock Tavern foundry.

Following this, the piece underwent several additional processes, including waterjet cutting, tube laser cutting, die cutting, injection moulding, robotic milling, and painting. All departments collaborated closely to ensure that the diverse materials and fabrication techniques were seamlessly integrated into a unified work of art.

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Image Credit: Chris Roque, courtesy of UAP | Urban Art Projects

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Address

Santa Monica, CA
90401–90411

Opening Hours

Monday	8:30am - 5pm
Tuesday	8:30am - 5pm
Wednesday	8:30am - 5pm
Thursday	8:30am - 5pm
Friday	8:30am - 5pm

Website

https://www.uapcompany.com/

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