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<\/p>\nThere\u2019s a hidden door in Downtown Disney. Only this one isn\u2019t meant to be walked through.<\/p>\n
Flanking a stage near the monorail station, you\u2019ll find a glistening white tower, the work of artist and activist Nikkolas Smith, who has adopted the term \u201cartivist.\u201d At first glance, the tower \u2014 one of Downtown Disney\u2019s most striking works \u2014 appears to be a nod to Disneyland\u2019s Midcentury art, for its curved lines and space-age optimism wouldn\u2019t be out of place in Tomorrowland. <\/p>\n
That\u2019s there, says Smith, but there are also a number of more subtle inspirations. <\/p>\n
The tower is a nod to five Black architects, trailblazers whose creations sometimes went unnoticed or overlooked. And that\u2019s why at the base of the structure is a looping opening meant to signify a half-open doorway.<\/p>\n
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Downtown Disney\u2019s Legacy Tower touches on the styles of different Black architects as it rises into the sky. <\/p>\n
(Gary Coronado \/ For The Times)<\/p>\n
Smith shares a distressing anecdote. \u201cThey had to learn how to read drawings upside down, because they weren\u2019t allowed to sit next to the white clients,\u201d Smith says, adding they also had to endure unequal pay. \u201cSo I was incorporating things like the half doorway to symbolize their struggle.\u201d<\/p>\n
Officially designated as the Legacy Tower, Smith himself fixates on that word \u2014 \u201clegacy.\u201d The term, he says, represents a thematic constant across his work. A regular collaborator on a number of Walt Disney Co. projects and a former architect with Walt Disney Imagineering, the division of the company focused on theme park experiences, Smith is something of a connector. His canvas art<\/a>, full of fast-moving brush work, is often rooted in the past while urgently seeking to draw links to the present. <\/p>\n Artist Nikkolas Smith went viral for his portrait of Martin Luther King Jr. in a hoodie, a tribute to slain teenager Trayvon Martin.<\/p>\n (Nikkolas Smith)<\/p>\n His 2025 children\u2019s book, \u201cThe History of We,\u201d tells the story of how humanity can trace its roots to Africa. And one of his best-known pieces is of Martin Luther King Jr. in a hoodie<\/a>, meant to evoke the image of Trayvon Martin, the slain 17-year-old whose death inspired a social justice movement. The work went viral in 2013 while Smith was still working for Imagineering. It altered his career trajectory. <\/p>\n \u201cIt was like, \u2018I cannot just make art about churros and rides right now,\u2019\u201d Smith says. \u201cThere\u2019s a time for that, and there\u2019s also a time to talk about this.\u201d He references his portraits related to the killings of Black men, many at the hands of police officers, such as Philando Castile and Michael Brown. <\/p>\n \u201cAt the end of the day, Disney understood that,\u201d Smith adds. \u201cThey understood that I needed to make art that was extremely important at the moment, about justice or the lack of justice.\u201d<\/p>\n Smith left Disney in 2019 after 11 years but has maintained a close relationship with the company, so much so that Imagineering called upon Smith to design the tower, which opened in 2023.<\/p>\n Artist Nikkolas Smith, left, chats with guests Ricky Yost and Martina Yost of Aubrey, Texas, who recognized Smith from a recent Disney cruise excursion. <\/p>\n (Gary Coronado \/ For The Times)<\/p>\n As the Legacy Tower spirals toward the sky, its patterns and and lattice work nod to the likes of James H. Garrott, Robert A. Kennard, Roy A. Sealey, Ralph A. Vaughn and Paul Revere Williams. All were active in Los Angeles \u2014 Williams, for instance, was a pivotal designer on the LAX Theme Building \u2014 and Smith interlaces decorative flourishes in varying styles that twist around one another to work up the Legacy Tower\u2019s pointed spheres. <\/p>\n The door of the Legacy Tower symbolizes perseverance, Smith says. \u201cThey made it through, despite all of the obstacles they had to go through.\u201d<\/p>\n Smith had studied the architects while a student at Hampton University, and has documented on his Instagram <\/a>their various stylings, which range from restrained to whimsical to ornate. A section referencing Vaughn is modern minimalism, whereas an area dedicated to Sealey is full of jagged, pointed linework. All of it is held together via a coiling design that feels full of movement. <\/p>\n The patterns of the Legacy Tower are nods to the likes of James H. Garrott, Robert A. Kennard, Roy A. Sealey, Ralph A. Vaughn and Paul Revere Williams.<\/p>\n (Gary Coronado \/ For The Times)<\/p>\n \u201cHow can I show humanity\u2019s interconnected future? That\u2019s the idea,\u201d Smith says. \u201cThere\u2019s this African theme of Sankofa. If we look toward our future, we have to look at the past and value and appreciate the past. I thought it would be great if I could really commemorate some Black designers and architects as the foundation and backstory of the tower. And I was also thinking about these breezeway block patterns that you see in Leimert Park.\u201d<\/p>\n And yet it also feels like something that belongs in the park. Smith says he looked at some Tomorrowland designs. <\/p>\n \u201cA Midcentury Modern vibe was Walt,\u201d Smith says, referring to park patriarch Walt Disney. \u201cThat was Walt\u2019s thing. It all connects. I love that people can hopefully now connect both things. You can connect Tomorrowland and Walt with Paul Revere Williams.\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s clearly Smith\u2019s favorite design of his for Disney, although it\u2019s not the only space at the resort that features his artistry. During his decade-plus with Imagineering he regularly worked on teams that focused on projects at Disney California Adventure, which this year is celebrating its 25th anniversary<\/a>. He was heavily involved, he says, in the evolution of Avengers Campus, contributed to a small promenade stage in Pixar Pier and helped envision the facade of Guardians of the Galaxy \u2014 Mission: Breakout!, which transformed the former Tower of Terror into a sci-fi structure.<\/p>\n Nikkolas Smith says elements of Downtown Disney\u2019s Legacy Tower symbolize perseverance.<\/p>\n (Gary Coronado \/ For The Times)<\/p>\n Smith looks back fondly at his years at Imagineering, specifically calling out his time on the Guardians project. The former hotel is now full of glistening bronze pipes, a retro futurist look that former Imagineer Joe Rohde, who led the design, has said takes influence<\/a> from the high-tech aesthetic of architect Renzo Piano, who worked on France\u2019s Pompidou Centre.<\/p>\n \u201cHow much can we add to it? How much can we get away with gluing onto this thing?\u201d Smith says of the Guardians facade. \u201cWhat is the right amount of \u2018Guardians of the Galaxy,\u2019 without being too much? Without scaring people on the freeway?\u201d<\/p>\n Today, Smith continues to focus on social justice work, and has also collaborated with filmmaker Ryan Coogler, such as completing concept designs<\/a> for his Oscar-nominated film \u201cSinners.\u201d Smith\u2019s 2023 children\u2019s book \u201cThe Artivist\u201d documents the importance of creating art that\u2019s in conversation with the world, believing it\u2019s not only a source for education but for empathy. Smith\u2019s weekly paintings speak out often against the current administration<\/a>, and Smith has been particularly vocal on the ICE raids<\/a>.<\/p>\n A selection from \u201cThe Artivist,\u201d an illustrated book from Nikkolas Smith. <\/p>\n (Nikkolas Smith)<\/p>\n \u201cSome people say that all art is activism, but I feel that some of the best art that is created is art that has a message,\u201d Smith says. \u201cAnd hopefully that message has to do with the humanity of all people, and for me, I like to focus on marginalized communities, and how we can value the humanity of everybody. That\u2019s why I make picture books about the origins of humanity and the origins of this country.\u201d<\/p>\n The Leimert Park resident says his wife and young son regularly visit the Disneyland Resort. And when he does, Smith says, he always takes a moment to stop by the Pixar Pier stage that he contributed to, which is often used for character meet and greets. <\/p>\n \u201cThey were team projects, and I do go up to them with so much pride,\u201d he says. \u201cI go up to the Pixar Pier promenade stage, and I just go up to it and touch it. … The beautiful thing about Disney is these creations are usually around for a lifetime.\u201d<\/p>\n It turns out you can take the artist out of Disney, but you can\u2019t fully take the Disney out of the artist. <\/p>\n ![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/1773224351_657_.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n![\"Three](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/1773224352_8_.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n![\"Legacy](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/1773224353_956_.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n![\"Nikkolas](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/1773224354_904_.jpeg\")
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