Sam Houston Speaks Again:

Houston has always been the kind of city that reinvents itself in public. On walls. In neighborhoods. In stories told out loud, then retold as art.

For Houston’s 190th birthday, I collaborated with Houston public artist Reginald C. Adams on a concept that feels very “Houston”: a bold new art corridor vision tied to Houston 190, and I introduced it with a twist, an AI-generated video presentation featuring Sam Houston delivering the message.

This post is the story behind that moment, and why this project matters.

Who is Reginald C. Adams?

If you’ve spent time around Houston public art, you’ve felt Reginald’s fingerprints. His studio is built around community-centered work, the idea that the city itself is part of the canvas. His practice is known for large-scale installations and murals that bring residents into the creation process, not just as spectators, but as collaborators. Reginald C. Adams+1

He’s also an artist whose work carries beyond Houston. Coverage of his Juneteenth-related mural work highlights his focus on history, civic memory, and community participation. Houston Landing

And most recently, even NASA has featured work by Reginald in the context of murals that reflect unity and the future, pointing to the cultural reach of his visual language. NASA

What is Houston 190?

Houston 190 is a major public art effort created to commemorate the city’s 190th birthday with a monumental mosaic work. Public descriptions characterize it as a 3,000-square-foot glass tile mosaic celebrating Houston’s history, diversity, and the legacy of the Columbia Tap Corridor. ClubRunner+1

The same descriptions emphasize a key detail: this is not just a finished artwork being “installed.” It’s a community-activated process that includes storytelling, workshops, and hands-on participation across neighborhoods, designed to become a living archive of Houston’s past and a shared vision of its future. ClubRunner+1

That combination is what makes it powerful: civic-scale ambition, built through real people.

The Columbia Tap Corridor connection

If you’re not familiar with the Columbia Tap Corridor, it’s one of those Houston threads where infrastructure and history and neighborhoods all intersect. The Houston 190 descriptions explicitly anchor the mosaic’s meaning in the corridor’s legacy, treating it as more than a location. It’s a narrative spine. ClubRunner+1

That’s also why the corridor idea resonates so hard. Corridors are movement. Connection. Passage. Memory. Growth.

Why use AI, and why Sam Houston?

Here’s the creative challenge I set for myself:

How do you get people to stop scrolling long enough to care about a civic art project?

You make the city’s past speak directly to the present.

So I produced an AI-driven video presentation that features Sam Houston speaking about the new corridor concept and Reginald’s Houston 190 vision. The goal was not to replace history or “fake” anything. It was to create a modern storytelling doorway, something that feels like a living postcard from Houston to Houston.

Used responsibly, AI can act like a megaphone for culture. It can take a message that belongs in a community meeting, an art workshop, or a neighborhood conversation, and deliver it in a format today’s attention economy actually listens to.

What this project represents (in plain language)

At its core, this is about turning a corridor into a story you can walk through.

A corridor where:

• Houston’s identity is visible, not abstract

• neighborhoods are represented, not erased

• the public sees itself in the public space

And importantly, it’s about participation. Houston 190 is repeatedly described as hands-on and community-engaged, meaning it’s not just “art placed on people,” it’s art made with them. ClubRunner+1

Behind the scenes (quick breakdown)

This is the creative stack I’m using more and more for civic storytelling:

• Real-world project with real community impact (Reginald’s lane)

• AI narrative wrapper that sparks curiosity (my lane)

• A call to action that pushes people from “that’s cool” to “how do I help?”

That’s the whole point. Convert attention into participation.

Where to go next

If you’re reading this and thinking “I want Houston to have more of this,” here are a few ways to plug in:

• Follow Reginald C. Adams’ work and public art initiatives. Reginald C. Adams

• Pay attention to Houston 190 announcements and community engagement opportunities as they appear through civic and community channels. ClubRunner+1

• If you’re a brand, venue, developer, or community org, this is the model: public art that builds identity and belonging, not just decoration.