Group Project
Large Austin mural wins award for creative collaboration by 250+ locals
Absolute Equality: Unity Tunnel incorporated ideas from hundreds of Austinites. An IAP2 award commends not just the art, but how it was designed.
A work of public art in Austin has earned international acclaim. Absolute Equality: Unity Tunnel, a large-scale work that spans 160 feet in the Pleasant Valley Road underpass, won the 2026 IAP2 USA Core Values Award: Project of the Year for Creativity and Innovation.
IAP2 is the International Association for Public Participation. It works on best practices for encouraging public participation in democracy — making decisions together. The award is reserved for projects that help engage communities in creative ways.
Unity Tunnel is a 2026 project by Texas artist Reginald Adams, using the help of more than 250 Austin residents over a year and a half, a newsletter from the City of Austin says. Most of the participants (approximately 68 percent) lived in the immediate neighborhood at Lady Bird Lake, and their ages spanned 5 to more than 65. They helped design and create the work.
The multimedia project decorates a tunnel with flagstone representing the Colorado River along the bottom of the walls, a painted mural on the top depicting local flora and fauna, and a wide tile mosaic running the length of the project in the middle. The tile mosaic is the most detailed part, visually recording answers to the question, “What makes East Austin special to you?” Custom ceramic handprints at the east and west entrances pay tribute to some of the people who contributed to the project.
According to the city's newsletter, IAP2 judges specifically commended how Adams created an encouraging environment for community members to make their ideas known, using "sound baths, quiet reflection and guided meditation to build trust and create culturally appropriate spaces for community voice." They pointed out that the community members ended up personally invested in the art, rather than just cooperative.
“Unity Tunnel exemplifies what is possible when public participation is treated as a creative, collaborative, culturally responsive practice,” said Angela Means, director of Austin Arts, Culture, Music and Entertainment (ACME). “Austin residents shaped this artwork’s stories, symbols, materials, and even helped fabricate it. The result is not just a tunnel transformed, but a community strengthened.”
IAP2 recognized Adams and Art in Public Places, Austin's public art program, at the IAP2 North American Conference in Vancouver, British Columbia, on October 1.
