HWY 169 & 21st St. Underpass
Tulsa, Oklahoma | May to June 2025
Approx. 42' × 130' | Aerosol and acrylic on concrete
Lead Artist | Collaboration with Reighe and Helen Cam
This project had a much longer story behind it than most murals I had worked on.
A few years earlier, around 2023, I took my first flight to Chicago as part of a research trip with the Tulsa Global District. We visited neighborhoods that shared similarities with the community we have here in Tulsa and heard directly from community leaders about the ways art, public space, and neighborhood investment had been used to create positive change.
That trip stuck with me.
It was an opportunity to see how other communities approached public art and to think about what ideas could translate back home in a way that made sense for our own neighborhood.
The process continued well after that trip.
Ideas were brought back to Tulsa, and the community was invited into the conversation through meetings where people could share additional ideas for how grant funding could be used. Those ideas were eventually put to a vote.
The community chose a mural underneath Highway 169 near 21st Street.
That is where I came in as lead artist.
Artists Reighe and Helen Cam were also selected to be part of the project, both bringing their own strengths and styles to the team. Together, we developed a mockup and presented the direction for the mural before moving into the next phase.
A project of this size requires much more than designing and painting.
There were permits to work through, traffic considerations, cones, figuring out how long certain areas needed to be blocked, lift rentals, scheduling, materials, and making sure we had what we needed to work safely and efficiently under the highway.
A lot of planning happened before the first major section was painted.
Once we started, though, the reaction from the community was immediate.
Cars would pass underneath us honking. People would stop by to see what we were doing. Familiar faces would pull over or wave and give us props. Others came by simply because they had heard about the mural and wanted to see the progress for themselves.
The Tulsa Global District also provided us with food stipends during the project, which I definitely appreciated.
If you know me, food is always high on the list.
Physically, this mural was a challenge in a way I had not really experienced before.
The center columns were fairly straightforward, but painting along the large sloped concrete areas was another story. Spending hours standing and moving across those angles put a serious strain on the calves. It was one of those details you would probably never think about when looking at the final mural, but when you are actually out there doing the work every day, you feel every part of the surface.
We spent a lot of time together underneath that highway, and through the process the three of us formed a strong bond.
Something else happened that I had not really experienced on that level before.
People wanted to help.
Artist friends, friends of friends, and people we were just getting to know offered to stop by and lend a hand. Different people came through at different times to help move the project forward.
I had always been much more accustomed to working alone, so seeing that many people eager to contribute was special.
It made the mural feel even more connected to the community around it.
By the time everything came together, the scale of the finished piece was hard to ignore.
People compared it to places like Chicano Park in California because of the way the artwork transformed the concrete infrastructure into something cultural, colorful, and full of identity.
For me, that comparison was meaningful because the goal was never just to put paint underneath a highway.
This project also meant more to me personally because it is in the same area where I grew up.
A lot of my work has brought me back to this side of Tulsa, and there is something meaningful about being able to continue creating here and contribute to the transformation of a place that shaped me.
To grow up in an area, leave your mark through art, and then watch those spaces become more colorful, active, and recognized carries a different kind of weight.
The project came from years of conversations, research, community input, voting, planning, and collaboration. It took something people drove past every day and turned it into a landmark people could recognize as part of their neighborhood.
That is what I am most proud of.
The mural became something people in the area could point to and take pride in, and for me, it became another way to give something back to a place that has always been part of my story.
Shout out to Reighe and Helen Cam. Both brought their own energy, talent, and perspective to this project, and I’m thankful we were able to create something this large together.
A lot went into this one.
And when I look at the finished mural, that is what I see.
Not just the paint, but the people, the planning, the neighborhood, and the place I grew up helping shape the work from beginning to end.
Shout out to Jesse, Miguel, Getar, Enmanuel, Rob, Felipe, and Berry.
