In 2016 Smile began working with Freeman and Lowe as a fabricator, creating 3D assets that were later printed for their show at the Storefront Gallery. That work led into being hired for a commission to create the mosaic attic in their permanent exhibit at the Cleveland Museum of Art in 2018. Smile was commissioned to create large-scale murals resembling the inside of a cave. Because of their background in interactive and immersive art, this was right in line with their practice. Th role was to build the world, while the team focused on how to realize it technically.

That year Smile developed methods for making these cave-like surfaces last “for the inevitable future.” Along the way they built countless sculptures, most of them pre-production tests for what would become a six-month build and installation in Cleveland. Those test pieces were later purchased by a restaurant in New York City — JUKU, a sushi spot in the Financial District. What had begun as experiments for the museum ended up living in a commercial setting, and they spent a month installing them there. It meant they now had to produce entirely new works for the museum.

When they moved to Cleveland, the project scaled into a 14 × 24 × 16 foot mosaic cave we called the attic. Alongside that, they also created the foregroun mountain layout for the dioramas, the layout for the White Tile Room, and additional pieces that completed the museum installation. This project lasted over two years, the installation is perminate and will be able to be viewed by the public in the 2030s.