Our Story
Get inspired! Watch the Life Cube artist describe the project in this short video...
It Began at Burning Man
The Life Cube Project was born from a goal. After attending Burning Man in 2003, artist Scott Cohen was awestruck by the scale, creativity, and collective spirit of the art on the playa. He left the desert with a vision: to create something interactive and collaborative—a space where people could share their goals and dreams, connect through creativity, and take that experience with them long after it ended.
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That vision came to life in 2011, when the first Life Cube rose from the dust of Black Rock City—an 8-foot wooden structure where burners wrote down their goals and shared moments of reflection.
In 2012, the project expanded. Community-painted murals appeared for the first time, and a few inspired members of the growing Life Cube community added powerful sacred geometry, bringing a new spiritual and visual dimension to the structure.
By 2013, a towering tapestry wall was added—woven from thousands of handwritten goals and aspirations on Dream Tags. Surrounding the Cube were hundreds of individual canvases, painted by community members. The Cube became a living record of shared intention and creativity—ephemeral in form, but unforgettable in impact.
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The installation returned three more times, becoming one of the few structures—outside The Man and the Temple—to be reimagined and rebuilt year after year. In 2015, it was selected as an official Burning Man Honorarium installation. That year, thousands engaged with the Cube—writing, painting, and contributing their energy—each person helping to shape something bigger than themselves.
What began in the desert sparked a global movement. Inspired by those early Cubes, Scott Cohen brought the Life Cube to cities, schools, and communities across the country and around the world—including installations in over a dozen U.S. cities and international locations from Ukraine to Costa Rica—inviting people of all ages to write, paint, and build something unforgettable.
The Movement Grows
The Life Cube Project began in the Nevada desert—an 8-foot wooden cube built at Burning Man in 2011, inviting people to write down their goals and build something meaningful together. That first public art experience lit a spark.
Since then, the Cube has been created in cities, schools, and cultural spaces across the United States and around the world—evolving into large-scale, interactive installations, some rising three stories tall with murals, multiple levels, and places to gather and reflect.
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Along the way, artist Scott Cohen has spoken with nearly 50,000 students and community members—sharing the story of the Life Cube, the power of creativity, and how goal setting can transform both individuals and communities.
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Though every Cube is temporary—built to disappear—it leaves something lasting behind: connection, inspiration, and the belief that when we share our goals, we shape the future.
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The Life Cube isn’t something you come to see. It’s something you bring your creativity, your energy—and become part of the art.
The Life Cube in Las Vegas
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The Life Cube in Las Vegas
Life Cube DTLV 2016 at Night. Photo by Freeman White III.
In 2013, artist Scott Cohen was invited by the Downtown Project to bring the Life Cube to Las Vegas. By early 2014, an entire city block in the East Fremont district was transformed into a vibrant public art experience—non-commercial, inclusive, and open to all.
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For several weeks, the Life Cube became a living canvas for the city. Local artists and community members painted bold, ever-evolving murals across every surface. Thousands of visitors wrote their personal goals and aspirations on colorful Dream Tags—formerly called “wish-sticks”—and placed them inside the Cube, adding their voices to a growing tapestry of shared intention.
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But it was more than a structure—it became a space where creativity was born. At all hours, people gathered for yoga, dance, music, and painting. School buses brought students from across the city to write, explore, and contribute. Artists from every corner of Las Vegas added their talents to the murals, while spontaneous performances and conversations brought the Cube to life.
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On March 21, 2014, the city came together for a public celebration as the Cube was ceremonially burned—marking the end of an extraordinary community journey.
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In 2016, the Life Cube returned—this time supported entirely by private benefactors. Nearly 10,000 people attended the culminating event, which featured live DJs, local bands, and a renewed outpouring of creativity and collaboration. For many, the Cube was more than an installation—it was a movement, a memory, and a mirror of what a community can create together. That energy helped spark Life Cube installations in cities and communities across the country and around the world.
Public Art, Personal Impact
Connecting Art & Community
The Life Cube’s journey from the desert to downtowns around the world shows what’s possible when art becomes a shared act of intention. These installations—built in partnership with local communities—transform public space into something personal, interactive, and unforgettable.
What follows are highlights from just a few of the many Life Cube installations across the country and around the world.
Reno, NV – Sculpture Fest
In 2015, the Life Cube debuted its first non-burning, metal and glass structure at the Reno Sculpture Fest. This 12-foot installation featured murals, a Tapestry Wall, and contributions from thousands of local students, including outreach to prison inmates, youth in recovery, and under-resourced schools. For the first time, Dream Tags were hung on the outside of the Cube, adding a new interactive element that allowed visitors to read the hopes and goals of others—an evolving, public expression of intention.
Bronx, NY – Riverdale School
Later that year, a Life Cube was installed at Riverdale School in the Bronx, where students, teachers, and familiescame together to paint, write, and build a communal art experience. Though this Cube did not burn, it became a vibrant canvas for creativity and dialogue, remaining on Jones Lawn for over a week.
Miami Beach, FL – SoundScape Park
In partnership with the New World Center, the Bass Museum, and other local arts organizations, the Life Cube activated SoundScape Park in Miami Beach, inviting thousands of children and adults to share their goals and dreams.
The Bass Museum provided space for family workshops and a dedicated gallery installation—featuring large photographs from past Cubes, video documentation, and even a piece of a metal Cube where visitors could write their own aspirations.
El Paso, TX – Chalk the Block
For the 10th anniversary of Chalk the Block, El Paso's annual public arts festival, the City’s Museum and Cultural Affairs Department (MCAD) invited the Life Cube to San Jacinto Square, directly across from the El Paso Museum of Art.
In the ten days leading up to the installation, the artist visited over 20 schools, military families at Fort Bliss, and youth shelters. The final 12’ Cube included Dream Tags, community-painted murals, a Tapestry Wall, and—true to the festival’s name—layers of chalk art from residents of all ages.
Ukraine – A Refuge in the Storm
Just four months after the war in Ukraine began, the artist traveled alone to the border to cook for refugees. In a church and pilgrim house turned sanctuary, a small Life Cube rose among tents and prayer. Local families—mothers and children displaced from their homes—wrote dreams for peace and reunification, hanging them on the Cube in quiet defiance and hope. Tears flowed. The act of writing became a ritual of resilience.
LIFE CUBE MIAMI BEACH
Life Cube Miami Beach, in front of New World Center in SoundScape Park, 2019. Photo by Madeleine Cohen