San Antonio public sculpture vies for prestigious global award

A prestigious global art competition is giving a hand to one of San Antonio’s most distinctive public projects. Mark Reigelman’s Falling Water in San Pedro Creek Culture Park is up for the 2026 International CODAaward, an annual honor recognizing commissioned art.

The program is sponsored by CODAworx, an online platform that connects patrons with commissioned artists working in large-scale, site-specific art. Creative professionals involved in the projects submit around 400 works each year, which the site’s experts reward in various categories.

But one of the coveted awards is determined by people who get to experience the work every day. Public voting is now open for the People’s Choice category through July 31.

During the current heavy rains, viewers can see Falling Water in its full functional form. Unveiled in May 2025, the sculpture addresses an infrastructure challenge — an overpass drain positioned directly above a frequently walked path. Brooklyn-based Reigelman solved the problem poetically, creating a monumental steel hand whose outstretched palm collects the water and releases it into the creek.

The artwork is part of the restoration of the stretch of San Pedro Creek spanning from South Alamo Street near Ruby City to Interstate 35 and Lone Star Boulevard. Completed in May 2025, the nine-year restoration reimagined a free-flowing waterway that was once crucial to the indigenous Payaya people, but had fallen into disrepair.

Falling Water is one of 11 Texas installations up for People’s Choice consideration, a number the awards committee says is “unprecedented.” The other nominated public works that can be found in the state include:

• A Very Long Now — Fort Worth
• Journey — Fort Worth
• Unity Tunnel — Austin
• Autobiography: Circles — Austin
• Civitas — Lewisville
• Waco Forever — Waco
• Weatherscape — El Paso
• Drawn Together — Frisco
• Undercurrents — Houston
• Arc ZERO at City Place — Spring