Moving Canvas: How Serve Robots Became Public Art
Moving Canvas: How Serve Robots Became Public Art
Article
Serve Robotics is launching Moving Canvas, a public art program that brings original artwork from local artists onto our robots.
Our robots already move through real neighborhoods every day. They pass restaurants, storefronts, parks, murals, homes, and the small details that make each city feel like itself. Moving Canvas grew from the simple idea thatif our robots are going to be part of the sidewalk, they should reflect the places they serve.
The program launches on June 22, timed to the first day of the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. At Cannes, Serve will debut two newly commissioned artist robots by Kate Lynn Lewis and Nicole Holderbaum before their designs roll out in Chicago and Miami.
Moving Canvas now includes five artists across four cities: Sküt in Los Angeles, George F. Baker III in Atlanta, Emmy Star Brown and Kate Lynn Lewis in Chicago, and Nicole Holderbaum in Miami.
How it started
Serve first worked with Los Angeles artist Sküt in 2023, exploring how a delivery robot could carry color, Pride, and community expression through the street.
As Serve expanded into new markets, the idea kept growing. In Atlanta, George F. Baker III brought local personality to Darcie, a robot painted with bold color and character inspired by the people of the city. In Chicago, Emmy Star Brown created a design from shapes collected in her Logan Square neighborhood.
Those early collaborations helped shape Moving Canvas into a formal program. Serve commissions and credits local artists, then brings their work onto our robots in the cities they serve.
Meet the artists
Sküt, Los Angeles
Serve began working with Scott Lewallen, also known as Sküt, in 2023. A Los Angeles native artist, designer, and entrepreneur, Sküt works across pop art, sculpture, murals, digital iteration, light, and color installations.
His Moving Canvas design draws on Gilbert Baker’s color symbolism and interprets each color through original vector iconography.
Each color represents a specific aspirational quality as described by Gilbert Baker, that I interpreted and illustrated as original vector iconography,” Sküt said. “Heart brings us all together.
Scott Lewallen
GFB3, Atlanta
George F. Baker III, also known as GFB3, is an Atlanta-based creator whose work spans design, illustration, production, murals, and creative direction. His work is playful, character-driven, and rooted in joy, connection, and self-expression.
For Serve’s Atlanta expansion, Baker brought that style to Darcie, a robot painted with bold blocks of color and cartoon-like faces inspired by the people he sees across the city.
I wanted to really celebrate what I think is one of the coolest things about Atlanta, which is the people.
George F. Baker III
Emmy Star Brown, Chicago
Emmy Star Brown is a Chicago native whose work is inspired by the city’s style, story, and character. She studied visual communications and later worked in advertising before building her art practice.
For her Serve robot, Brown drew from her own neighborhood, Logan Square.
It reflects Chicago in an abstract, interpretive way. All the shapes were collected in my neighborhood, Logan Square.
Emmy Star Brown
She described the finished robot as “a joyful, unexpected mural on wheels rolling through the city.”
Kate Lynn Lewis, Chicago
Kate Lynn Lewis is one of the two newly commissioned artists debuting at Cannes Lions. Lewis is a South Florida and Chicago-based artist and muralist focused on large-scale mural installations, illustrative design work, and brand collaborations.
For Moving Canvas, Lewis created a design inspired by impossible shapes, unexpected depth, and architectural details. She researched local architecture and drew from archways, cast iron balcony patterns, cafe awnings, and coastal geography.
I’m aiming for the robot to both stand out and spark conversation. I love ideas that ignite more ideas, and that’s what I see this as.
Kate Lynn Lewis
Nico, Miami
Nicole Holderbaum, also known as Nico, is the second newly commissioned artist debuting at Cannes Lions. Holderbaum is a Florida-based visual artist, muralist, creative director, designer, and community organizer known for bold, large-scale work and a vibrant style that blends nature, technology, and spirituality.
For Moving Canvas, her design draws on the dualities she sees in Miami.
My work is often inspired by the duality of masculine and feminine energy, soft and sharp. I strive to express this duality in magical ways that also showcase elements from my environment here in Miami, FL. In this case, a bougainvillea branch interacting with a barbed wire.
Nicole Holderbaum
Holderbaum sees the robot as “a mobile form of public art,” something that can spark joy and inspiration as it moves through the city.
What comes next
The first round of Moving Canvas was funded by Serve. As the program grows, anyone have the opportunity to sponsor artist commissions, support original local artwork, and help bring more artist-designed robots into the world.
For artists, Moving Canvas creates a paid opportunity and a new public surface. For communities, it brings local creativity into everyday neighborhood spaces. For Serve, it helps our robots feel more connected to the cities where they operate.
Our robots are already part of the daily rhythm of local delivery. With Moving Canvas, they can carry a piece of the city with them.
- If you’re interested in creating artwork for a future Moving Canvas robot, reach out to Lina Bertini on our team to learn more.
- Interested in sponsoring an artist-commissioned robot design? Contact our advertising team.