This Artist Answered a Businessman's 'Powerful' Question — Then His Work Became 'the Poster Child for Juneteenth': 'Your Network Really Becomes Your Net Worth'

Jun 18, 2024 10:10 PM - 4 months ago 60430

"I'm nan small boy who loved to draw, who ne'er grew up," Reginald Adams, master creator and laminitis of Houston-based nationalist creation and creation patient Reginald C. Adams LLC, tells Entrepreneur. "And acknowledgment to an incredibly supportive family, I've ever been encouraged to do what I loved."

As Adams entered his teenage years and added different mediums to his imaginative repertoire, his circle of family supporters expanded to see paying customers. Thirty years later, he's traveled nan world to create artwork pinch a social impact — including nan Absolute Equality Juneteenth Mural Project.

"From 2014 to 2020, a batch of my activity [was] rooted astir taste icons [and] humanities figures, chiefly successful nan African American community, that immoderate statement aliases individual aliases entity wanted to admit aliases salary homage to," Adams says. "So I recovered myself coating portraits aliases creating sculptures honoring humanities figures." Adams' extended portfolio caught nan attraction of nan Juneteenth Legacy Project, which commissioned his activity to grant nan holiday.

Before Adams went into business himself, he was nan executive head of nan Museum of Cultural Arts, Houston (MOCAH) for much than a decade. There, he focused connected community-based nationalist art; Adams built his accomplishment group astir community engagement and facilitating groups involving younker successful creating nationalist art. However, because Adams worked astatine a nonprofit organization, nan pieces he made during those years were successful nan nationalist domain.

Related: The 6 Do's and Don'ts for Engaging successful Juneteenth Conversations

"I deliberation it's awesome really you service nan community, but what bequest will you time off for your children?"

One day, a "very wise businessman" sat down pinch Adams and asked him a "powerful" question. "He said, 'Reginald, this is awesome what you're doing, and I deliberation it's awesome really you service nan community, but what legacy will you time off for your children?'" Adams recalls. That businessman encouraged Adams to start a backstage company and commissioned a ample portion of creation to supply a year's salary.

So Adams established his LLC and continued to create community-based activity — now pinch afloat ownership and power of each his projects and designs.

When Adams went into business for himself, 1 of nan biggest challenges he faced was his ain mindset. "Coming from nan nonprofit world wherever a batch is expected for thing aliases for free, I had to found worth for what I was doing," Adams explains. "And I realized my activity was valuable because it was tangible. I've ever dreamed big, truthful each of my projects are very large-scale. But pinch galore artists, it's a situation if you're not trained to cognize really overmuch your activity is worth and past beryllium assured to speak it."

The displacement took immoderate getting utilized to, but acknowledgment to his supportive community, Adams gained nan assurance to speak up astir and guidelines down nan worth of his work, he says. Now, he has six master artists, who are independent contractors, moving pinch his firm, and he hires further artists arsenic needed.

Image Credit: Courtesy of ©2024 Reginald C. Adams LLC. Absolute Equality Juneteenth Mural Project successful Washington DC. Artist: Reginald C. Adams and Creatives 2024.

Related: How Inclusive Leaders Can Understand and Harness nan Power successful Juneteenth

"I would promote different artists to really look astir [at whom you] are opinionated adjacent to."

It's important to situation yourself pinch group who judge successful you, Adams says — and that whitethorn not needfully beryllium family aliases friends. Early successful his career, nan creator joined various business groups, for illustration The American Leadership Forum and The Center for Houston's Future, to beryllium "in nan midst of decision-makers." "I would promote different artists to look astir [at whom you] are opinionated adjacent to because your network really becomes your nett worth," he adds.

In January 2020, Adams completed a series of mosaic monuments successful Emancipation Park, nan oldest municipal parkland successful Houston and Texas, which was founded by formerly enslaved group Rev. John "Henry" Jack Yates, Richard Brock, Richard Allen and Rev. David Elias Dibble. Then, nan Galveston-based Juneteenth Legacy Project approached him astir creating a piece. The project's founder, Sheridan Lorenz, wished to grant Juneteenth pinch a mural successful Galveston; her family owns nan Old Galveston Square Building, which sits adjacent to wherever office for nan Union Army stood backmost successful 1865 — nan Osterman Building.

"The Osterman Building nary longer exists," Adams says. "It's presently a parking lot, but that parking batch is straight adjacent to nan wall that is now big to nan Juneteenth mural successful Galveston. And truthful essentially, nan mural is astatine crushed zero of this historical infinitesimal successful American history."

The portion was a "little intimidating," Adams admits — nan 5,000-square-foot wall, which is 44 feet precocious and 125 feet long, would clasp nan biggest mural he'd ever tackled. But Adams was up for nan challenge, "especially fixed nan quality of nan project." So, pinch his squad of six artists and astir 320 gallons of paint, Adams created nan portion complete 27 days and 1,300 man-hours. It was dedicated 3 days aft President Biden announced Juneteenth arsenic a national holiday.

Related: Formerly Enslaved Black Man Nearest Green Taught Jack Daniel Everything He Knew About Whiskey. Today, nan Founder of Uncle Nearest Premium Whiskey Celebrates His Legacy.

"[Juneteenth] intends thing different successful each portion of nan country. So I'm learning."

"If you're successful Texas, you cognize astir Galveston, but a batch of folks, [are like], 'Galveston where?' So it was awesome for nan taste tourism of Galveston," Adams says. "Because of nan standard of nan mural [and] nan ocular content, nan mural successful galore ways became nan poster kid for Juneteenth successful that virtually each media web that focused connected a communicative astir Juneteenth aliases Galveston showcased nan mural."

Adams' pieces had ne'er received truthful overmuch media attention, and nan realization deed him: This is simply a lane for you, Reginald. Now a nationalist holiday, Juneteenth wasn't conscionable a trend, he says, and Adams wanted to "take this communicative beyond nan shores of Galveston, crossed nan country." So, pinch Capital One's support, that's precisely what he did. Since 2021, nan Absolute Equality Project has expanded to 13 murals crossed cities, including Los Angeles, Shreveport, Houston, Dallas, Miami, Detroit, Philadelphia, Chicago and Washington, D.C.

Image Credit: Courtesy of ©2024 Reginald C. Adams LLC. Absolute Equality Juneteenth Mural Project successful Shreveport, Louisiana. Artist: KaDavien Baylor 2022.

Before nan Galveston mural, Adams says he "really didn't deliberation a full batch astir Juneteenth" aliases be celebrations astir nan holiday. But "that has changed because of my consciousness of what Juneteenth means," Adams adds, noting that his activity connected nan Absolute Equality Project has taken him crossed nan state and deepened his appreciation for what nan vacation intends to group — "And it intends thing different successful each portion of nan country. So I'm learning."

Related: To Be a Real Ally, You Need to Support Black Employees Beyond Juneteenth. Here's How.

"My travel has only unfolded because I'm moving connected things that are important to me."

On Juneteenth this year, Adams says he plans to be nan Los Angeles dedication of nan Absolute Equality portion created by Samson Bimbo Adenugba, an creator from Nigeria who now resides successful Los Angeles. Adenugba's mural is located wrong 1 of nan Capital One cafes, "a very different situation for each of nan murals successful nan collection," Adams says, and 1 he's excited to spot successful person.

For immoderate creator aliases entrepreneur who wants to create activity pinch a social impact, Adams has immoderate words of wisdom: "Focus connected what's important to you. My travel has only unfolded because I'm moving connected things that are important to me. And I deliberation erstwhile we attraction connected what is important to us, our attraction astir it increases. We're being much authentic to who we are arsenic creatives. The messaging becomes much authentic."

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