New public art projects are popping up in locations around Texas, including the atrium of the Abilene Heritage Square Library, Santa Fe Park in San Angelo, Sycamore Park in Fort Worth, and the San Pedro Creek in downtown San Antonio.
In April, the City of Fort Worth Public Art Program unveiled Energetic by Blessing Hancock, a Tucson, Arizona, artist with more than 60 public artworks situated around the world. At 11 feet tall, Energetic encourages interaction with delicate latticework and rings of inscribed words following the piece’s möbius strip circular shape. The 160 words were collected from community members during a 2023 Juneteenth celebration in Sycamore Park, where the sculpture is now located. Language contributed by members of the public is a frequent feature of Ms. Hancock’s artworks, in keeping with her focus on amplifying voices of the communities where her works will be sited.
In a press release, Ms. Hancock said, “I wanted to create something that felt alive in a place that brings nature, movement, and community together …. What I hope people feel when they experience Energetic is a sense of curiosity and play. You can walk around it, under it, and through it. It changes depending on how you move and when you visit, reflecting the energy of a community that is always evolving and coming together.”
In December 2025, Ms. Hancock completed Civitas, a public artwork stationed at the Tittle McFadden Public Safety Center in Lewisville, Texas. Civitas also includes 72 phrases contributed by community members on the theme of public safety, which were then cut into the 14-foot stainless steel ring-shaped sculpture.
In Abilene, Carlyn Ray, a Dallas-based glass artist, similarly engaged community members for her project at the Abilene Heritage Square Library. Unveiled on Saturday, May 16, Gathered Radiance is a 25-foot-tall conglomeration of glass forms resembling liquid bubbles and flowing lines, suspended within the library’s three-story atrium. Of the sculpture’s 400 elements, 100 were made with the participation of community members during artist-led workshops in Abilene. Her process echoed her longstanding work with the public in Dallas, where she runs the Dallas Glass Art community studio and the Art Reaching Out hands-on STEAM education program in Dallas schools.
In a press release, Ms. Ray said, “Public art should feel deeply connected to the people and place it represents. When a community participates in the process, the work becomes more than an installation — it becomes a shared reflection of identity, memory, and belonging. Getting to know each community is always my favorite part of the work.”
Gathered Radiance is her latest public art installation in Texas, part of a growing list of sites that includes the Garland Central Library, The Lamplighter School and Ronald McDonald House in Dallas, and forthcoming projects at Dripping Springs Community Library, Fort Worth Botanic Garden, and the new Crandall High School Performing Arts Center…