New Orleans Artist Lionel Milton Makes Miami Solo Debut With CTC: Creativity, Talent + Culture

New Orleans Artist Lionel Milton Makes Miami Solo Debut With CTC: Creativity, Talent + Culture During Miami Art Week.

On view December 3–5 at GoodDays Studios, the exhibition traces four decades of work by the artist known as Elleone and showcases a new collection rooted in New Orleans’ Lower Ninth Ward.

New Orleans multidisciplinary artist and graffiti writer Lionel Milton, also known as Elleone, will present his first solo exhibition in Miami, CTC: Creativity, Talent + Culture, December 3–5, 2026, at GoodDays Studios during Miami Art Week. The exhibition pairs a visual timeline of Milton’s work from the 1980s to the present with a new collection that draws on humor, grief, and his upbringing in the Lower Ninth Ward.

In the Lower Ninth Ward, CTC can stand for “Cross the Canal” or “Cut Throat City.” Milton reimagines the initials as Creativity, Talent + Culture, a tribute to the resourcefulness he learned growing up in the neighborhood. He spent his early years skateboarding its streets and spray-painting abandoned walls. The neighborhood still shapes his perspective. Every skyline he paints is seen from the Lower Ninth Ward’s Mississippi River levee.

In the new work, Milton sets black and red against white, sometimes reversing the palette to create a visual call-and-response between past and present. His recurring trickster character, HELO, appears throughout the collection, adding humor to some of the exhibition’s most personal pieces.

“As a New Orleanian, you learn to do more with less,” said Milton. “This body of work reflects my humanity and sense of humor. It contains both comedy and tragedy, and I held nothing back. It’s one of the most personal collections I’ve ever made. I think my mom would be proud of me.”

Through paintings, murals, and functional art, the exhibition demonstrates how graffiti lettering, skateboarding, hip-hop, and New Orleans culture shaped the style Milton calls Visual Gumbo Funk.

Gallery Hours

Dates: December 3–5, 2026
Daily Gallery Hours: 11 a.m.–5 p.m.
Evening Music & Art: 6–10 p.m.

Explore the exhibition each evening with music by DJ Mixx Reggae Boy Sounds of Miami and DJ Derrick Freeman of New Orleans.

Location: GoodDays Studios, 1761 NW 21st Terrace, Miami, FL 33142
Admission is free with RSVP at  https://tinyurl.com/3h44f3zu

About Lionel Milton

Lionel Milton, also known as Elleone, is a multidisciplinary artist and graffiti writer from New Orleans’ Lower Ninth Ward. His work spans paintings, public murals, festival posters, and commercial commissions. He has collaborated with graffiti artist Mark Bodē and created work for Sony PlayStation, Disney, Red Bull, and Heineken. In New Orleans, he has designed posters and merchandise for the Voodoo Music + Arts Experience and created a commemorative tote during an artist residency at the New Orleans Public Library. His murals, Empathy Loves Company and We Are One, honor Black men killed by violence and reflect his use of public art to reckon with loss in his community.

For more information about Lionel, visit lionelmilton.com | Instagram @lionelmiltonart