Locals have given a tunnel connecting two historic Lawrence neighborhoods quiet, dedicated care for at least 15 years. Over the weekend, volunteers came together to transform it.
Few Lawrencians likely know of the Pinckney Tunnel Volunteer Collective, made up of Jenny Skillman and Jen Unekis.
Skillman, who lives in Old West Lawrence, and Unekis, who resides in Pinkney, are united quite literally by the tunnel bridging their neighborhoods and their desire to maintain it for their communities. They recently convened a dozen volunteers to treat the tunnel to a new coat of paint.
The tunnel was built in the 1950s to facilitate safe travel across Sixth Street. Over the decades, it has carried countless children safely to school. But by the time Skillman’s eldest child started kindergarten at then-Pinckney Elementary in 2010, it had fallen into disrepair.
She noted standing water, trash, graffiti that was inappropriate for tots and flickering lights that created a horror movie atmosphere. This spurred her to take up a crusade to maintain the space in her free time.
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“I drove around for more than a year with ‘Mama’s tunnel box’ in my trunk — a cardboard banana box with gloves, plastic bags, a paint pan, rollers, and a bucket of Kilz — so that I could address graffiti swiftly,” she said via email.
Skillman and Unekis were both part of the Parent-Teacher Organization at Pinckney Elementary, which decided to tackle tunnel improvements in collaboration with the city in 2011.
The city took on installation and maintenance of lights and storm drains, while the PTO worked with 21 young artists at Van Go to create a mural. The 90-foot design, installed in 2013, was a light in the middle of the tunnel, livening up the space for children on their treks to and from school, and deterring excessive graffiti and tagging.
“Enter this imaginative, underground passageway and you’ll experience a full day in the life of a schoolchild,” the dedication plaque for the mural, called “Tunnel Vision,” still reads. “These interrelated, painted panels depict the progression from the bright awakening of sunrise to the dark and dreaming of night.”
The panels are dotted with small characters and references to Lawrence history, making the walk feel like an “I Spy” book come to life. Pedestrians and bikers can also slow down to spot 51 panthers hidden throughout the imagery, an ode to the mascot of the small, neighborhood school that closed in 2023.
The building now houses Community Connections at Pinckney, with a special education program, a school bakery and more. Today, the volunteer collective continues to partner with the city and the directors of Community Connections to maintain the tunnel.
After issuing a call to local National Honor Societies, they rounded up 10 students from Free State and Lawrence High for the weekend’s volunteer day.
Using paint trays, rollers and other supplies that Unekis collected from her Pinkney neighbors, they freshened up the solid-color walls and entrances surrounding the detailed mural segments.
“They (the student volunteers) probably, most of them, had never been in the tunnel … but now they know it’s there, and it’s kind of cool to just know that there’s this little piece of Lawrence that most people probably have never seen or didn’t even know that it existed,” Unekis said.
Skillman said Saturday’s efforts produced a miraculous improvement in the tunnel in just a few hours.
“Saturday kind of reminded me … of the spirit that we had when the community created the mural in the first place,” she said. “We came together, we worked hard and it was just a way of giving back.”
Unekis, who doesn’t frequently use the tunnel these days, thought it was fun to see joggers and families heading to the Pinckney school park over the weekend, safely traversing Sixth Street underground.
She was also touched to see a credit for “Brandt Minden, age 17” on the dedication plaque. Unekis is the co-coordinator of Lawrence’s Art in the Park, and Minden is now a local working artist who was featured in this year’s vendor fair and art show.
“Just in general, I think that it’s just good to know that people care about it (the mural),” Unekis said. “People are going to feel safer walking through it, and they’re going to feel like it’s not just a forgotten piece of — it’s just not completely utilitarian. It has a a function of also bringing a little light into the world.”
For both women, public art is a precious thing to maintain, and the tunnel mural is a community gift that keeps on giving.
“I see something different every time, still, all these years later,” she said of the mural design. “There’s just unique little pieces of something beautiful, or something that makes you think … It was created for maybe how a little kid might approach their day, but it really is kind of universal.”
Be the light in the tunnel
In the near future, the Pinckney Tunnel Volunteer Collective is hoping to tackle projects like the peeling ceiling.
They could use more contributors, particularly folks who use the tunnel and can notify them of graffiti or other damage. Reach out to the collective via email at pinckneytunnel@gmail.com.
Unekis and Skillman have some remaining funds from when the PTO first fundraised for the tunnel, but continued care requires continued support. Those who wish to back their efforts financially can donate at this link.
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Wulfe Wulfemeyer (they/them), reporter and news editor, has worked with The Lawrence Times since May 2025. They can be reached at wulfe@lawrencekstimes.com.
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