City of Katy to Debut New Mural That Celebrates History and Cultural

KATY MAGAZINE NEWS

September 5, 2024

By Natalie Cook Clark

The City of Katy debuts a new mural this month by Katy artist, Tyler Kay who used her talents to depict Katy history and culture. Residents can marvel at the detail and learn more about the city by visiting the mural located in Downtown Katy.

Katy’s Town Square across from City Hall (901 Avenue C) now has a historical mural surrounding the base of the city’s water tower. While the artwork still needs to be finalized, Katyites can see it now. The six large panels depict the city’s history and cultural in stunning detail designed and executed by Katy artist and paintress Tyler Kay.

Spreading Joy Through Art

For 13 years now, Tyler Kay has spread joy throughout the U.S. and Greater Houston area through her art. Many residents enjoy her floral mural at LaCenterra and the “Just Keep Growing” mural is a popular photo spot when families are out shopping or dining.

Kay has been thrilled to be back working in her hometown of Katy and on such an important project.

Tyler found help from her mother and dog when working in the visitor center. Photo credit: Natalie Cook Clark

“Two years ago the City of Katy reached out to tell me how they were reworking the area around the water tower,” says Kay. “From there, we had a lot of back and forth discussions about the design.”

Kay worked with city officials by providing fully colored digital renderings and attended community meetings for input. Many Katy residents shared stories and pictures.

“This is the largest project I’ve done and the longest time to completion,” says Kay. The project is projected to be completed the end of this month after many setbacks, including last summer’s Hurricane Beryl. At completion the project will have taken over five months.

Each Side is Unique

Each side of the mural represents different aspects of Katy. Important things to the city such as first responders, rice harvesting, rodeo, snow geese that migrate through the city, Katy football and more are represented.

The mural became even more personal for Kay as she planned her great uncle, Ralph Fisher into it. Fisher will be depicted as the rodeo clown in the rodeo scene. He was known to be the rodeo clown along with his pet buzzard named Oscar. Fisher and Oscar even toured with ZZ Top!

The dogs that residents will see around the Katy Police car are based off of pictures of actual Katy police dogs. That is the level of detail and work that Kay put into this mural that Katy gets to enjoy.

Kay and her assistant, Andrea Gilson typically have worked odd hours on the project because of the heat and humidity. She also learned to work on a new material. Typically, her murals are painted on brick.

“Every time I paint a mural, I paint a billion things that I haven’t painted before,” says Kay. At the time of this interview she was painting her first train, Katy’s MKT train.

Tyler Kay Around Katy

Katy residents have seen other work by Kay around town. In addition to her mural at LaCenterra, you can find her first Katy mural at TAD’s restaurant. She also did a mural at a gas station off of Clay and Porter Road. Not in Katy, though it attracts Katy residents, she has a 25-foot. by 30-foot mural at St. Arnold’s Brewery.

Photo credit: Tyler Kay

Katy Strong

Tyler Kay is from a long-standing Katy family. Her grandmother was in the second graduating class of Katy High School and she’s had many family members compete in the Katy Rodeo. In fact, she painted one of her family members into the new mural’s rodeo scene.

The 2011 Cinco Ranch graduate is a professional paintress, who is known nationally for her bright and uplifting murals inspired by the tragic death of her high school boyfriend, Chris Saiz.

“He intersected my life to help me find my bigger purpose,” says Kay. “He had so much potential and then he was gone.”

Saiz was a passenger in a tragic car accident on December 20, 2011. He was a talented basketball player for Cinco Ranch High School.

31-year-old Kay had always loved art but planned to study economics in college. The tragic death of Saiz caused her to pause and rethink her plan.

Kay believes in “Mortality Motivation” and puts herself out there to uplift, motivate, and live her best life. She obtained a Bachelors of Art and a Masters in Arts Leadership from The University of Houston. She focuses on community art and community engagement.

She still loves to run the hill near Cinco Ranch High School for a good workout. A perfect day is going for a walk in Katy and letting her dog run free around the bayous. And of course, she loves LaCenterra, especially Bar Louie.

Kay’s newest mural at Katy’s water tower is an example of her talent and dedication to the craft while honoring history and culture. Soon, this is destined to be a top Katy picture spot!

There will be an official ribbon cutting to celebrate the mural September 26 at 6:00 p.m.

Learn more about Tyler Kay at her website or follow her on Instagram @TylerKay.

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