In 20 years, Beer Deng Maluil went from hiding in the bush of southern Sudan to being depicted on the downtown skywalk on 12th and O streets.

“I could never have expected anything like it,” the 27-year-old from Bor Town, Sudan, said Tuesday as Lincoln leaders gathered to applaud a new photographic mural. “I feel like a celebrity.”

Deng Maluil, who has lived in Lincoln for five years, is one of 21  residents depicted in the 15-foot-tall mural, titled “Our Community … Larger than Life.”

The transparent film layered on the 86-foot-long skywalk was designed by Lincoln artist Larry Roots. The artist used computer software to enlarge the images and give them a painted look.

The project represents the “effects of globalization within our own community,” Roots said.

“When I was looking at this bridge and trying to transform it into something else, I thought it could represent, literally, a human bridge,” he said. “The people are the lifeblood of the community. This shows us that.”

Roots’ concept was selected in a national search that drew about 60 applicants. From start to finish, the project took nearly two years to complete.

The photo mural is the latest addition to Lincoln’s 12th Street Art Zone project, which runs from M Street north to the University of Nebraska-Lincoln campus.

The Downtown Lincoln Association raised $60,000 for the project from local foundations and businesses.

“It’s going to be really interesting to see how the community embraces it in the future,” said Ken Hake, the chairman of the 12th Street Art Zone committee.

Reach Drew Kerr at 473-7223 or dkerr@journalstar.com.