Civic installation · 2024–25 · installed October 2025Completed student-led public-art collaboration
ATX Voices
A student-led series of large-scale sculptures that introduces Texas School for the Deaf students to the public on their own terms.
10,000Approximate attendance at the Homecoming unveiling
4 × 7 ft.Large-scale hand sculptures in the official project record
PermanentInstalled on the TSD campus in October 2025
Source → promise → proof
Students address Austin in public, visibly and on their own terms.
Four seven-foot sculptures, a 10,000-person unveiling, and permanent installation.
World-building idea
ATX Voices was designed by Texas School for the Deaf students and Design Austin over the 2024–25 school year, working closely with TSD’s arts faculty. The installation brings student wishes and Deaf-community pride into permanent public view along South Congress Avenue.
Official ATX Voices project page ↗01Language in space
Students speak to the city on their own terms.
Design Austin’s Exhibitions and Experiences Committee worked with TSD arts faculty to build a student-led design process. The sculptures make the students’ wishes and pride legible at civic scale.
02Material behavior
Four seven-foot hands carry the message.
The official project record describes four seven-foot-tall hand sculptures spelling “ATX” in American Sign Language, followed by the TSD Ranger mascot sign. Each work is engraved with students’ wishes for and pride in themselves and the Deaf community.
03Permanent public presence
Unveiled to 10,000. Installed for years.
ATX Voices debuted at TSD’s annual Homecoming in October 2025 to approximately 10,000 attendees and was permanently installed later that month along a major campus pedestrian corridor.
- Student designers: Texas School for the Deaf students
- Public-art collaboration: Design Austin + Texas School for the Deaf
- Student-led process developed with TSD arts faculty
- Supported in part by the City of Austin Economic Development Department
Jake can contribute responsibly inside a student-led, community-centered public-art process without overstating individual authorship.