Melissa Koby captivates quite naturally. She hasn’t always called herself an artist, but has always been creative—and creating—on the sidelines of corporate jobs, through periods in school, and ever since she was a little girl, supported by her encouraging mother and inspired by her uncle’s life and portrait oil paintings, and the studio space he carved out for himself in his home, for his joy.
“I was maybe six or seven,” Koby told Creative Loafing Tampa Bay. “My uncle had a little studio in his house with a lot of his paintings up. He just painted at home, he didn’t really show his work anywhere, but it was really beautiful.”
Koby wonders why he never pursued his own art career further and thinks that this is one of the reasons she, herself, tried to pursue art with intention. “I didn’t want that natural ability to be lost,” she added.
And thankfully for the Jamaican-born, Tampa-based, artist, it hasn’t been. Koby continues to make bright waves that began with illustrations that have now evolved into more intricate and delicate cut and layered paper pieces.
But Koby’s professional career as an artist didn’t even really take off until just six years ago when she began going viral on Instagram with her Quarantine Series. Those illustrations featured faceless figures outside, in serene places, or together, holding hands with loved ones.
“When the world shut down,” Koby said, “I started creating illustrations of people in their most ideal forms.”
The images conveyed tranquility and togetherness in a time when people needed it most, and from there, Koby gained a huge following relatively instantly and organically. After that, collaboration opportunities came in quick. From West Elm, Starbucks, Cadillac, Pottery Barn, to many more.
Most notably and recently, though, came one opportunity for the literal history books as Koby became the first Black artist commissioned to create official artwork for the U.S. Open’s 75th Anniversary honoring the legacy of Althea Gibson, the first African American to play in the U.S. National Championships (now the U.S. Open).
The iconic piece features deep shades of blues in layers cut delicately in the form of Gibson’s profile portrait. Within that portrait are more bright and intricate details: a periwinkle Statue of Liberty, a bright yellow tennis ball, the chartreuse and royal blue of the famed courts, and Gibson’s silhouette, reaching up to serve.
“The magnitude is not lost on me,” Koby said during an interview with U.S. Open last year. “I think about the saying ‘you are your ancestors’ wildest dreams’. Even though [Gibson] is not my grandmother or ancestor, I kind of created it with the mindset of ‘I’m doing this to make somebody that could be my grandmother proud.”
And making people proud, she is. To celebrate and honor Juneteenth this year, Koby will exhibit 14 new pieces in her first ever solo exhibit hosted by the Black Art Gala Foundation in collaboration with the Tampa Edition (stylized “EDITION”) at the hotel’s Arts Club this Friday.
Juneteenth Art Show: Melissa Koby
Time Fri., June 19, 8-11 p.m. 2026
Location Tampa EDITION, 500 Channelside Dr., Tampa
“This will be the most pivotal point,” Koby told CL. “It’s my first solo exhibit, it’s my first time showcasing new work, it’s my first time showing work that I pushed myself to do. It’s especially important because my goal as an artist is to represent people, especially Black people, especially Black women.”
Going further, Koby notes that there’s often this large and looming idea or misconception in our culture. This lens or external expectation that Black people must present more seriously.
“Some of my inspiration comes from seeing Black people be happy and be whimsical and joyful,” Koby said, “because they’re not expected to be, and I struggle with that too. I definitely present more seriously, but ideally I want to be more joyful, more whimsical. So I try to create what I want. We’re so much more than seriousness, and everyone deserves softness and joy.”
In the works to be shown at the upcoming exhibit, guests will find that whimsy in Koby’s colorful, textured, and carefully crafted pieces. The show is open to the public and will include the artist’s most recent work in sizes ranging from 11×11’s to 36×42’s and multiple 30×40 pieces. Also on display (and not for sale) will be Koby’s U.S. Open piece for exhibit-goers to view up close.
“I feel incredibly honored,” Koby said ahead of her Juneteenth showcase. “I’m going to be overwhelmed with hopefully just joy in that moment.”
There’s no cover for the Juneteenth Art Show featuring Melissa Koby happening at Tampa EDITION in Water Street Tampa on Friday, June 19.
Follow @mkoby_ for more.
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