“I'm the little boy who loved to draw, who never grew up,” Reginald Adams, professional artist and founder of the Houston-based public art and design firm. Reginald C. Adams LLCshows entrepreneur. “And thanks to an incredibly supportive family, I was always encouraged do what i wanted.”
As Adams entered his teenage years and added other mediums to his creative repertoire, his circle of family supporters expanded to include paying customers. Thirty years later, he has traveled the world to create works of art with one social influence – including Absolute Equality June Eighteenth Mural Project.
“From 2014 to 2020, a lot of my work (was rooted) around cultural icons (and) historical figures, mostly in the African American communitythat an organization or individual or entity wanted to recognize or pay tribute to,” says Adams. “So I found myself painting portraits or creating sculptures that honor historical figures.” Adams' extensive portfolio attracted the attention of June Heritage Projectwhich commissioned his work to honor the holiday.
Before Adams entered the business, he was the executive director of the Museum of Cultural Arts, Houston (MOCAH) for more than a decade. There, he focused on community-based public art; Adams built his skills around community engagement and facilitating groups that involve young people in creating public art. However, because Adams worked at a non-profit organization, the pieces he made during those years were in the public domain.
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“I think it's great how you serve the community, but what legacy are you going to leave for your children?”
One day, a “very wise businessman” sat down with Adams and asked him a “powerful” question. “He said, 'Reginald, it's great what you're doing and I think it's great how you're serving the community, but what LEGACY are you going to leave for your kids?'” Adams recalled. That businessman encouraged Adams that to open a private company and commissioned a large work of art to provide a year's salary.
So Adams founded his own Ltd and continued to create community-based work – now with full ownership and control of all its projects and designs.
When Adams went into business for himself, one of the biggest challenges he faced was his own mind set. “Coming from the nonprofit world where so much is expected for nothing or free, I had to put value on what I was doing,” Adams explains. “And I realized that my work was valuable because it was tangible. I've always dreamed big, so all my projects are very big. But with many artists, it's a challenge if you're not trained to know how much work IS valuable and then be sure to speak it.”
The shift took some getting used to, but thanks to his supportive community, Adams gained the confidence to speak up and stand behind the value of his work, he says. Now, he has six professional artists, who are independent contractorsworking with his firm, and he hires additional artists as needed.
Image Credit: Courtesy of ©2024 Reginald C. Adams LLC. Absolute Equality Juneteenth Mural Project in Washington DC. Artist: Reginald C. Adams and Creatives 2024.
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“I would encourage other artists to really look around (at who you) stand by.”
It's important to surround yourself with people who believe in you, Adams says—and that can't necessarily be family or friends. Early in his career, the artist joined various business groups, such as the American Leadership Forum and the Center for the Future of Houston, to be “among the decision makers.” “I would encourage other artists to look around (who you) stand by because you are your the network truly becomes your net worth“, he adds.
In January 2020, Adams completed a the series of mosaic monuments in Emancipation Park, the oldest municipal park in Houston and Texas, which was founded by formerly enslaved people Rev. John “Henry” Jack Yates, Richard Brock, Richard Allen and Rev. David Elias Dibble. Then the Galveston-based Juneteenth Legacy Project approached him about creating a piece. The founder of the project, Sheridan Lorenz, wanted to honor him June tenth with a mural in Galveston; her family owns the Old Galveston Square building, which is located near the site of the Union Army headquarters in 1865 – the Osterman Building.
“The Osterman building no longer exists,” Adams says. “It's currently a parking lot, but that parking lot is directly adjacent to the wall that now hosts the Juneteenth mural in Galveston. And so basically, the mural is at ground zero of this historic moment in American history.”
The piece was “a little intimidating,” Adams admits — the 5,000-square-foot wall, which is 44 feet high and 125 feet long, would hold the largest mural he'd ever tackled. But Adams was up for the challenge, “especially given the nature of the project.” So with his team of six artists and about 320 gallons of paint, Adams created the work in 27 days and 1,300 hours of work. He was dedicated three days after President Biden announced June 10 as a federal holiday.
“(June) means something different in every part of the country. So I'm learning.”
“If you're in Texas, you know about Galveston, but a lot of people, (are like), 'Galveston where?' So it was great for cultural tourism in Galveston,” says Adams. “Because of the scale of the mural (and) the visual content, the mural in many ways became the poster child for June in that almost every media network focused on a story about June tenth or Galveston featured the mural.”
Adams' parts had never fetched so much media attentionand the realization hit him: This is a lane for you, Reginald. Now a national holiday, Juneteenth wasn't just a trend, he says, and Adams wanted to “take this story beyond the shores of Galveston, across the country.” So, with Capital Onehis support, that's exactly what he did. As of 2021, the Absolute Equality Project has expanded to 13 murals across cities, including Los Angeles, Shreveport, Houston, Dallas, Miami, Detroit, Philadelphia, Chicago, and Washington, DC.
Image Credit: Courtesy of ©2024 Reginald C. Adams LLC. Absolute Equality Juneteenth Mural Project in Shreveport, Louisiana. Artist: KaDavien Baylor 2022.
Before the Galveston mural, Adams says he “really didn't think much about Juneteenth” or participate in the festivities surrounding the holiday. But “that has changed because of my awareness of what June means,” adds Adams, noting that his work at the Absolute Equality Project has taken him across the country and deepened his appreciation for what the holiday means to people – “And it means something. different in every part of the country, so I'm learning.”
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“My journey has unfolded only because I'm working on things that are important to me.”
On June 10 of this year, Adams says he plans to attend the dedication in Los Angeles of the piece Absolute Equality created by Samson Bimbo Adenugba, a Nigerian artist who now resides in Los Angeles. Adenugba's mural is inside one of Capital One's coffee shops, “a very different setting for all the murals in the collection,” Adams says, and he's excited to see it in person.
For any artist or entrepreneur who wants to create work with a social influenceAdams has some words of wisdom: “Focus on what's important to you. My journey has unfolded only because I'm working on things that are important to me. And I think when we focus on what's important to us, our attention around We are most authentic to who we are as creatives.