Austin's Unity Tunnel mosaic wins a national award. Behind it is a dispute over how much the city sets aside for public art

A mosaic underpass on Lady Bird Lake has won a national award for public engagement. The City of Austin announced on Oct. 26 that its Art in Public Places program and Texas artist Reginald C. Adams received the 2026 IAP2 USA Project of the Year award for creativity and innovation for Absolute Equality: Unity Tunnel. The award was presented Oct. 1 at a conference in Vancouver, British Columbia.

The artwork lines the 160-foot underpass beneath Pleasant Valley Road at Lady Bird Lake, next to the new Wishbone Bridge at Longhorn Dam. According to the city, it includes more than 689,000 hand-laid tiles in a 1,000-square-foot mosaic, more than 1,000 square feet of custom flagstone and a 3,000-square-foot painted ceiling. More than 250 residents, ages 5 to over 65, helped shape and build it over about a year and a half. About 68% of them lived nearby. The project was also named the 2026 CODAworx winner for best collaboration.

"Austin residents shaped this artwork's stories, symbols, materials, and even helped fabricate it," said Angela Means, director of the city's Arts, Culture, Music and Entertainment department, in the release.

What our records add

What the council approved. On Nov. 20, 2025, the council doubled Adams' contract for the Longhorn Dam Multimodal Improvements art project, adding $190,000 for a total of up to $380,000. The money came from Austin Transportation and Public Works' capital budget. It passed on consent, 11-0.

On April 23, 2026, the council approved an agreement with TxDOT to use $4,116,279 in federal earmark money from U.S. Rep. Greg Casar's office for the Longhorn Dam project. The record puts the total estimated cost at $6,185,729, with the city's share, $2,053,262, coming from the 2018 and 2020 mobility bonds. It passed 10-0, with Council Member Natasha Harper-Madison absent.

The funding fight. Austin's ordinance sets aside 2% of construction costs on eligible city capital projects for public art, a rate set in 2002, KUT and the Austin Current reported in May. Arts leaders say the city has calculated that 2% on a smaller base than the code allows, by also deducting design, engineering and administrative costs. In a presentation to the Arts Commission, the Longhorn Dam bridge was one example: about $614,231 expected under the 2% formula, and $250,000 received.

City staff want to write the current practice into the ordinance. "The changes proposed are intended to codify what has been the practice for years," Assistant City Manager Mike Rogers told KUT. The Art in Public Places Panel and the Arts Commission both voted against the proposal, and a council item scheduled for April 23 was pulled for more work, KUT reported.

How the review started. On March 6, 2025, the council voted 11-0 for a resolution directing the city manager to review and update the Art in Public Places chapter of city code, including how money is collected and used for maintenance, conservation and relocation of art. Council Member Zohaib "Zo" Qadri led it, with Ryan Alter, Vanessa Fuentes and Mayor Kirk Watson as co-sponsors. As of Oct. 30, our records show no council vote on a rewritten ordinance.

Other public art votes. Our records show 36 council actions on Art in Public Places items since March 2025, including a few postponements. All but one passed without a no vote. Many are for the airport expansion, including a $5.8 million tunnel artwork approved in June 2025. The one exception was Aug. 27, 2026, when the council voted 9-2 to remove the street mural Crosswalk on the Lake on Lake Austin Boulevard from the city's collection. Fuentes and Council Member Paige Ellis voted no.

What's next

Any change to the public art formula would need a council vote. KUT noted in May that bond-funded capital projects are among those that pay into the program, which is one reason the formula matters as voters decide the $295 million parks and library bonds on Nov. 3.