AUSTIN, Texas — Five stories high and composed of over 70,000 hand-placed, 3-quarter- inch glass tiles, a new East Austin mural brings together decades of neighborhood history while honoring the life and legacy of civic leader Roger Taylor Sr.

The Austin community gathered Friday from 10 to 11 a.m. at Seabrook Square II, 2210 Pershing Drive, to celebrate the Roger Taylor Senior mural’s completion.

Arts nonprofit Raasin in the Sun partnered with Integral Care to execute this project and bring a longtime vision to life.

“The Roger Taylor Senior Mural flowing together is a reflection of heart, history, and healing and the healing power of the JJ Seabrook neighborhood,” Raasin McIntosh, Founder & CEO of Raasin in the Sun, said. “It represents what happens when artists, neighborhoods, partners, community and storytellers come together with intention.”

Taylor Sr. founded the J.J. Seabrook Neighborhood Association on Jan. 2, 1983, and served as its president for more than 20 years through Jan. 1, 2004, up until his health began to decline. Along with being a prominent East Austin civic leader, Taylor Sr. was a single father who became the first Black man in the United States to gain custody of twins and raise them, according to his kids.

The mosaic not only honors Taylor’s legacy but also serves as a development providing permanent supportive housing for 60 people who have experienced homelessness and mental illness and now want to live a meaningful life.

“Just imagine all the amazing stories that this place will tell, all the amazing recovery that will happen here,” Integral Care CEO Jeff Richardson said.

Richardson said Seabrook Square II will provide support services including mental health care, substance use treatment, case management and peer support.

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This mural reflects Raasin in the Sun’s mission of transforming spaces into places of pride, connection and community energy.

“Every tile, every color, every detail carries the spirit of collaboration,” McIntosh said. “It wasn’t just one artist.”

Multidisciplinary artist J Muzacz said the mural is the tallest mosaic his studio has created and may be one of the tallest in Austin.

“Checking and taping over 300 square feet of those tiles, you start to go a little cross-eyed and start to dream in pixels by the end of it,” Muzacz said. “We always say we have tiles for miles at the studio, and this is testimony to that.”

Muzacz’s work is rooted in storytelling, community engagement, and cultural connection. Although installing siding or painting a wall would be easier, he said projects like this one take time from conception to completion, inspire conversations, and require the work of an entire community.

“Dozens if not hundreds of hands were involved,” Muzacz said. “Mosaics truly are timeless. Hundreds of years from now, let’s ask ourselves, what stories do we want to be telling on these walls? I think this is a good one.”

Taylor’s children, Roger Taylor Jr. and Rosalind Taylor Dillard, said their father graduated from high school in 1954 and later attended night classes at Austin Community College while working two jobs and raising twins as a single father. He served in the U.S. Army and later worked as a mailroom supervisor at the Veterans Administration until retiring in 1995.

“When I think about my father, the first thing that comes to mind is how much he believed in family, hard work, education, and community,” Junior said.

McIntosh and Muzacz considered eight to 10 mockups before arriving at the final design. Each image in the mural represents a part of Taylor’s life. His high school graduation cap and gown symbolize his commitment to education, while the former Mueller airport control tower represents his efforts to preserve the structure from demolition in the late 1990s. A nearby plaza now bears his name.

The mural also depicts Taylor’s 1968 Dodge truck, which he used to serve the neighborhood. When Taylor asked the city’s Parks and Recreation Department to plant trees in the J.J. Seabrook Greenbelt, he learned that the department did not have enough funding to water and maintain them. Taylor placed 50-gallon drums in the back of his truck and, with help from his son and neighbors, watered each tree nearly every day for two years, according to Taylor Jr.

“My hat goes off to him,” Taylor Jr. said. “With the mural facing toward the J.J. Seabrook Greenbelt, it’s remarkable because it’s almost as if he is looking over the trees and the greenbelt.”

This mural is McIntosh and Muzacz’s first official project they have done together after 10 years of friendship.

Raasin in the Sun’s Mosaic Workshop, located about 10 minutes away on Airport Boulevard, is open throughout the week for community members interested in making mosaics, taking classes or participating in future community mural projects. The organization will also hold its annual Mosaic Fest during the last week of October.

“Thank you all for continuing to invest in the beauty and the strength of Austin,” McIntosh said.

Taylor’s children said their father was devoted to serving his community but never sought recognition for his work.

“My father was a humble man, and I can almost hear him saying, ‘I don’t know about all of this.’ But I believe he would be deeply humble and grateful,” Rosalind Taylor Dillard said.