Eighty years of Mattel.
Eighty artists on the walls.
And a crowd painting toys live.

Mattel turning eighty, a Downtown LA gallery walls-deep with eighty artists, and a wall where the public could paint the toys themselves.

March 15, 2025 marked the opening of "Toys As Art, Art Inspired By Toys: Mattel's 80th Anniversary Group Exhibition" at Corey Helford Gallery in Downtown LA — the kick-off for Mattel's year-long anniversary celebration, presented in partnership with Mattel Creations. The show ran through April 19 and featured over 80 visionary artists from around the globe reimagining Mattel's IP library — Barbie, Hot Wheels, Fisher-Price, American Girl, Thomas & Friends, UNO, Masters of the Universe, Matchbox, Monster High, MEGA and Polly Pocket. Headline names on the walls: Mark Ryden, Paul Frank, Gary Baseman and D*Face.

We brought the participatory layer. Our interactive LED wall hosted paintable 3D models of Mattel's iconic characters — Barbie, Thomas the Tank Engine, and a roster of figures from across the IP slate. Guests rotated them with the menu controls, hit each surface with stickers and stencils built for the anniversary, and watched the piece wrap around sculptural form the way it would on a real-world vinyl. Then they pulled out their phones and the work followed them out as AR — drop a freshly-painted Barbie back on the gallery floor as your own remix.

Eighty years of IP, eighty artists curated on the walls, and the public completing the trio: paintings on canvas, paintings on toys, and a digital wall that put the same brush in everyone's hand.

Eighteen years. Six continents. One idea, done right.

For eighteen years, Graffiti+ has been putting real creative tools in people's hands — in public, at scale, and always with cultural integrity.

Born from the roots of graffiti culture and built for anyone willing to pick up a custom spray can, the platform transforms galleries and exhibitions into shared canvases where visitors paint together in real time — across flat walls, 3D objects, and AR. From their home in Vancouver to projects across six continents, Graffiti+ has partnered with Mattel, The Walt Disney Company, Trampt, Hyundai, Nike and Samsung to bring authentic, participatory experiences to audiences everywhere.

When the gallery hangs eighty artists and lets the public paint Barbie, the show becomes a conversation instead of a presentation.