About Reginald

Reginald C. Adams was born in Cheyenne, Wyoming, 4 September 1972. He is an artist and community activist currently living in Houston, Texas. As a self-trained public artist he seeks to engage inner-city youth, other artists, and local residents in the research, design and production of site specific public art projects.  He is best known for his brilliantly colored tile mosaic murals and sculptures, which are strategically located in some of Houston’s most historic and underserved neighborhoods.

Over the past eight years he has become one of Houston’s most prolific public artists having designed, coordinated and produced over 80 public art projects across the Houston area.  Typical locations for these projects include schools, parks, community centers, hospitals, housing developments, colleges, religious buildings, and other civic spaces. Virtually all of these projects have been created through design workshops and residencies with the active involvement of other artists, youth, the local community and schools.  These projects provide participants with a genuine sense of engagement,   ownership, and stewardship of their community.

His interest in public art has been nurtured by his travels around the U.S. and abroad. Adams has visited every state in the continental U.S. and more than 15 countries around the world.  His visits to these uniquely diverse destinations have greatly influenced his interest in traditional and cultural art forms as well as his pursuit towards creating art for public spaces. Adams’ creativity runs parallel to his business acumen and leadership skills.

Adams currently serves as executive director of the Museum of Cultural Arts Houston (MOCAH), which is an organization that he co-founded in 1999 with his wife and art partner, Rhonda Radford-Adams.  The mission of the organization is to use public art and creativity as tools for social awareness and  community development.  MOCAH has worked with over 35 HISD schools by providing arts-based programming to more than 4,500 students.  The award winning art projects that are produced by  MOCAH are viewed by more than 650,000 youth, residents and visitors to Houston annually.  These projects have been recognized by the Mayor’s Office, Harris County, Congress and the History Channel.

He is the board president of the Land Assemblage Redevelopment Authority (LARA), a nonprofit governmental corporation that acquires chronically tax delinquent properties in nine of Houston’s most historic and disadvantaged communities for the construction of new and affordable housing. His leadership on the LARA board has guided the organization towards the development and implementation of policy that will provide hundreds of working class and low income families with the opportunity of homeownership.

He is a senior fellow with the American Leadership Forum (ALF) Class XXIV.  The American Leadership Forum is a national network of chapters, each dedicated to building stronger communities by joining and strengthening leaders to serve the public good. ALF enhances leadership by building on the strengths of diversity and by promoting collaborative problem solving within and among communities.

In the summer of 2007, Adams completed a Group Study Exchange travel fellowship, from the Rotary International.  During travel fellowship enabled Adams to spend five weeks in western Turkey studying mosaic art, architecture and community development practices.  He is also a member of the Rotary Club of Houston, one of the largest and most active Rotary Clubs in the world.

Adams philosophically believes that everyone deserves access and exposure to the arts and that the arts play a fundamental role in the enhancement of the educational system and the vitality of local communities.  This philosophy is the cornerstone towards his commitment for engaging the public in the creation of public art.  He is an avid reader, runner and a father of a six year old son, Jahlani.  Reginald has run two marathons in his lifetime and is currently writing a book titled, Community Canvas, a how-to on designing and producing community art projects.