At NeoCon 2026, ArtLifting brought together immersive art, artist-led experiences, workplace wellness conversations, and design collaborations to explore the future of human-centered design. 

By centering the work and perspectives of artists with disabilities, the activation demonstrated how art can make values like accessibility, inclusion, wellness, and belonging visible — and create new opportunities for artists to help shape the built environment.

• Explored accessibility, perception, and human experience through Neuroaesthetic Art: A Healing Journey to Self-Reflection, an immersive installation created by ArtLifting with artist and architect Eliza Redmann, Morlights, and Lighting Services Inc.
• Brought artists into industry conversations through guided tours, Eliza Redmann's Folded Poetry workshop, and Quána Madison's NeoCon Talk, Wellness at Work.
• Celebrated ArtLifting's collaboration with Mohawk Group featuring artwork by Eddie Li.
• Demonstrated how art can serve as a catalyst for more inclusive environments by making values like accessibility, wellness, and belonging tangible and visible.

NeoCon has long been a gathering place for the architecture and design industry to exchange ideas, build relationships, and explore what's next for the built environment. This year, conversations across showrooms, presentations, and activations reflected a growing focus on human-centered design, wellness, neuroinclusive environments, and meaningful connection.

At NeoCon 2026, ArtLifting contributed to those conversations through an immersive activation that brought together artist-led experiences, workplace wellness discussions, creative partnerships, and new ways of thinking about accessibility, perception, and human experience.

Throughout the week, ArtLifting artists helped shape discussions across architecture, design, workplace strategy, and lighting — demonstrating how art can serve as a catalyst for inclusion, connection, and human-centered design.

By centering the work and perspectives of artists with disabilities, the activation created opportunities for architects, designers, manufacturers, workplace leaders, and industry partners to engage with ideas around accessibility, wellness, belonging, and perception through the lens of art.

More than a showcase of artwork, the activation demonstrated how art can make values visible — transforming concepts like inclusion, connection, and human-centered design into experiences people can see, feel, and engage with.

The result was a week of meaningful conversations about how artists can help shape spaces, products, and experiences that better reflect the people who use them.

At the heart of the activation was Neuroaesthetic Art: A Healing Journey to Self-Reflection, an immersive, multisensory installation created in collaboration with artist and architect Eliza Redmann, lighting designer Morlights, and lighting products provided by Lighting Services Inc.

The installation invited visitors into an evolving sensory environment where perception shifted, and new ways of seeing emerged. Through sculptural artwork, museum-quality lighting, and guided experiences, attendees explored the relationship between art, light, and human experience.

Throughout the week, guided tours led by Eliza Redmann and the ArtLifting team created opportunities for deeper conversations around neuroaesthetics, accessibility, perception, and the role of art in shaping how we connect with the spaces around us.

The activation extended beyond the installation itself through artist-led programming that encouraged attendees to engage directly with creative practice and artistic perspectives.

Eliza Redmann also led a hands-on Folded Poetry workshop, where participants explored form, geometry, and collaboration through modular compositions created with laser-cut paper forms. Inspired by her sculptural practice, the workshop offered a tactile approach to understanding how simple elements can create more dynamic and human-centered environments.

The conversation continued during the NeoCon Talk Wellness at Work, presented by Design Milk, where ArtLifting artist Quána Madison joined Stephen Brown, SVP of Global Market Development at IWBI and ArtLifting Advisory Board Member. The session explored how workplace design can support community health, wellbeing, and resilience, pairing IWBI research with Madison's personal experiences and artwork to illustrate the role art can play in creating more human-centered environments. Together, the speakers challenged attendees to consider how the spaces they design influence not only productivity, but also belonging, healing, and overall well-being.

The session reflected a broader shift within the design industry toward viewing art as more than an aesthetic enhancement. By bringing together workplace wellness research and an artist's lived experience, the discussion highlighted how creative expression can contribute to healthier, more engaging workplaces — reinforcing ArtLifting's belief that art can be a meaningful driver of connection, inclusion, and positive workplace experiences.

NeoCon also provided an opportunity to celebrate the impact of artist-centered collaboration.

Our partnership with Mohawk Group continues to demonstrate how artists can help shape products that bring creativity, storytelling, and meaning into commercial spaces. Since 2021, the collaboration has expanded opportunities for ArtLifting artists to see their artwork translated into thoughtfully designed flooring products featured in workplaces, hospitality environments, and other commercial spaces.

At NeoCon, we were proud to feature Ocean Garden by Canadian ArtLifting artist Eddie Li. Eddie is one of 23 ArtLifting artists whose artwork has been included in the Mohawk Group partnership, highlighting the breadth of artistic perspectives represented throughout the collection.

In a video shared at NeoCon, members of Mohawk Group's design team reflect on the ongoing partnership with ArtLifting and the impact of bringing artists' perspectives into product design, featuring Ocean Garden and the story behind the collaboration.

The activation also received industry recognition.

In its coverage of the installation, EdisonReport described ArtLifting as one of the most memorable exhibits at Illuminate at NeoCon, highlighting the relationship between art, light, and the human brain. The article explored how thoughtfully illuminated artwork can influence emotions, spark creativity, and encourage human connection — ideas that were central to the experience we set out to create.

The recognition reflected a growing interest in how art, accessibility, and human experience intersect within the built environment.

NeoCon 2026 reinforced an important idea: art can make accessibility, inclusion, wellness, and human experience tangible.

Across architecture and design, there is growing recognition that environments should support a wider range of ways people think, feel, work, and experience the world. As conversations around neuroinclusive design, workplace wellness, and human-centered environments continue to evolve, art offers a powerful way to bring those ideas to life.

Art creates moments of reflection, sparks meaningful conversations, and helps people connect more deeply to the spaces they inhabit. When artists with disabilities are included in these conversations, their perspectives can help reveal new possibilities for how spaces, products, and experiences are designed.

Advancing access to the art market creates opportunities for artists to contribute their artwork, ideas, creativity, and perspectives to the spaces, products, and experiences that define the built environment. NeoCon 2026 offered a glimpse of what is possible when artists help shape conversations about the future of design. 

ArtLifting is grateful to the artists, partners, collaborators, clients, and everyone who spent time with the activation throughout the week, including Eliza Redmann, Quána Madison, Eddie Li, Stephen Brown, Morlights, Lighting Services Inc, Mohawk Group, Design Milk, IWBI, AIS, and CAI Designs.

The conversations that began at NeoCon continue to point toward a future where accessibility, inclusion, and human-centered design are not separate considerations, but essential parts of how spaces, products, and experiences are created — and where art helps make those values visible.

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