xispa is an art innovation lab, residency, and exhibition space where artists and technologists experiment with ideas that don't fit traditional museums or galleries. We make things, put them in front of audiences, and learn what happens. Technology serves the work, not the other way around. Through this cycle of creating and discovering, we develop new ways of thinking about art while producing installations and solutions for partners across the cultural landscape.
The name xispa (pronounced CHEE-spa) means spark — that flash of something special in a person, an idea, or a moment of collision between disciplines. We exist to find those sparks and give them room to catch.
xispa grows directly out of years of artist residency and collaboration work led by its founders. Doug Carmean and Lele Barnett previously created and led the ART (Artists, Researchers, and Technologists) and Expansive Thinking program at Meta Reality Labs Research — an initiative that united artists and researchers to spark creativity, experimentation, and innovation. Through that program, they supported long-term artist residencies with Futurefarmers, Amor Muñoz, Alexander Reben, and Susan Robb, as well as countless day residencies with artists across a wide range of disciplines. In February 2026, they founded xispa to carry that mission forward as an independent organization, bringing with them an established network of artist relationships, a proven residency model, and a planned artist-in-residence partnership with Samantha Yun Wall.
Co-Founder
Lead Artist-Technologist
Doug Carmean is an avid art collector, painter, and technologist whose work sits at the intersection of art and emerging technology. At Meta Reality Labs Research, he co-created the ART and Expansive Thinking program, collaborating directly with artists to explore how new technologies could expand creative practice. Over a 40-year career in the technology sector — as a Director of Research Science at Meta, Distinguished Engineer at Microsoft, and Intel Fellow — Doug developed deep expertise in computing systems and optics, knowledge he now brings to bear in service of artistic experimentation. At xispa, he works alongside artists as Lead Artist-Technologist, translating technical possibilities into creative tools and collaborative frameworks.
Co-Founder
Curator and Program Director
Lele Barnett is a Curator and Program Director who has spent over 25 years helping artists, collectors, and organizations find each other and do meaningful work together — including more than a decade embedded in some of the world's leading tech companies. At Meta Reality Labs Research, she co-created the ART and Expansive Thinking program with Doug Carmean. Over her career, she has served as a curator for Meta Open Arts, the Microsoft Art Collection, the Starbucks Art Collection, and the Washington State Arts Commission. She was also co-founder of McLeod Residence, a home for extraordinary living through art, technology, and collaboration. At xispa, she leads programming, partnerships, and the artist residency model she helped pioneer.
Projects, installations, and experiments. Portfolio content coming soon.