Katy to reveal water tower murals depicting city’s history
12 Aug 2024
By: Aubrey Vogel - Community Impact
Community art continues to expand in Katy, with murals around the water tower in Historic Town Square set to be revealed in late August.
What's happening?
Four murals by artist Tyler Kay of Tyler Kay Designs LLC are being finalized ahead of an Aug. 24 official ribbon-cutting in the square. The murals were initiated by Keep Katy Beautiful, a nonprofit focused on beautifying the community, said Jacalyn Warner, affiliate coordinator for Keep Katy Beautiful.
The murals will pay homage to the city’s history, including rice fields, geese, farming, police and firefighters, she said.
City Council approved a $28,800 agreement to pay for the project in March 2023 with funding from Keep Katy Beautiful, and Katy’s Convention and Tourism Bureau, according to agenda minutes.
Zooming out
The murals are part of a larger movement spearheaded by Keep Katy Beautiful to bring more artwork to the community, Warner said.
“It’s kind of a new thing, bringing art into a city,” she said. “If you go and look in different communities like Brenham, Austin, Sugar Land, La Grange, ... you drive around small towns all over Texas, you see murals going up on walls; you see murals on traffic boxes; you see art being added to cities.”
The organization has also brought mini murals to three traffic signal boxes around town at the intersections of:
-Avenue D and Franz Road
-Kingsland Boulevard and Pin Oak Road
-Cane Island Parkway and Franz Road
Traffic box mini murals were first implemented in the city of Katy last April, and Keep Katy Beautiful board members hope to add one more in the near future, Warner said.
What’s next?
Kay, the artist, must finalize the murals by Aug. 24, when the city will host an official ribbon-cutting in downtown at 7 p.m., ahead of the city’s Champions on the Square event, Warner said.