Daytrip to Tyler

Blooms & Booms Tour: Tour The Pineywoods of East Texas

This is provided complimentary by Visit Tyler

Tour the entire Piney Woods area on this unique tour! Click the image to check out this great tour featuring Roseland Plantation, Historic Aviation Memorial Museum, shopping, Rose Gardens, American Freedom Museum, and tons more!

Travel to the piney woods of East Texas, and you’ll find yourself in a place unlike any other in the Lone Star State.

Rolling hills, pine forests, and magnificent lakes can be found within the Texas Piney Woods region, where the warmth of Southern hospitality is alive and well. Stop and smell the roses at the largest rose garden in the nation, located in Tyler. Known as the Rose Capital of America, Tyler is a beautiful stop on this East Texas tour. Cruise the brick streets of the Historic Azalea District featuring miles of blooming azaleas and dogwoods, Then it’s full steam ahead to Palestine. Home of the Official Railroad of Texas, visit the Victorian train depot, more than 1800 historical sites, and prepare for a little sensory overload when it comes to the flavors of East Texas. Henderson, voted as one of the “prettiest little towns in Texas,” is another great stop on this East Texas road trip.

East Texas is a hidden gem and a great place for your next group tour.

And don’t forget East Texas’ boomtown, Kilgore, known as the “City of Stars,” a nickname given to it because over 60 oil derricks that dot the Kilgore skyline, all topped with lighted stars.

Join us on this self-guided tour to see for yourself what everyone is raving about!

Click image to EXPAND!

Art

On Exhibit at Tyler Museum of Art: “Bits & Pieces”

The Tyler Museum of Art (TMA) is located at 1300 S. Mahon Ave. on the Tyler Junior College main campus. Regular TMA hours are 10am-5pm Tuesday-Saturday, and 1-5pm Sunday. The Museum is closed Mondays and on most major holidays. For more info call the museum at (903)595-1001, tylermuseum.org, or email info@tylermuseum.org.

Bits & Pieces: Works by Al Souza is on exhibit July 9th-Oct. 18th, 2020. Organized by the Tyler Museum of Art, this exhibition features a variety of mixed media collages and assemblages from 2000 – 2010 by Al Souza. The works, including his jigsaw puzzle assemblages, showcase his ability to masterfully combine various parts to create a dynamic whole.

The Blue Man: Photographs by Keith Carter is on exhibit June 21st-August 30th, 2020. Organized by the Tyler Museum of Art, this exhibition showcases 50 photographs from Keith Carter’s Blue Man series held in the TMA’s Permanent Collection. The images, taken in the late 1980’s, highlight a variety of people and places found around East Texas. Rooted in a documentarian tradition, Carter’s images capture the ordinary as well as the unimaginable subjects that make our region unique. Keith Carter (b. 1948) is an internationally recognized photographer and holds the Endowed Walles Chair of Art at Lamar University in Texas. His work has been widely exhibited and can be found in numerous museum collections including the National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian American Art Museum and J. Paul Getty Museum.

Art

Looking Arty: Murals Around Downtown Tyler

There is a lot going on in the art community around Tyler, TX. Here are some of the beautiful murals that are located in #downtowntyler. Take your photo with one (or all) of them and tag #HaveFunMakeaDifference.

“Eyes of Tyler”

Located at the corner of Elm Street and Broadway Avenue just south of the Downtown Square, #tylertx alongside the Lindsey Building. Painted by Dace Lucia Kidd in 2017, Dace said, “My image, ‘Eyes of Tyler,’ is inspired by the concept of shared beauty. It is intended to communicate that there is beauty within all of us if you just look. My goal is to encourage everyone to create what is next in their life, to search for what is beautiful within everyone, while being aware of the beauty in Tyler, and particularly in the downtown area.”

“Wings of Tyler: Welcome!”

Wings of Tyler is a project by local artists Cassie Edmonds and Dace Kidd.

Wings of Tyler is a mural on the exterior wall of a building leased by Edward Jones Investments on the southeast corner of Broadway Avenue and Erwin Street. The art faces west, which is Broadway Ave., just a few feet south of the downtown square.

According to the artists’ rendition, there is five sets of wings painted at various heights and lengths along the wall, allowing individual or group photo opportunities. The wings are finished in Venetian mirror-glass.

The idea is to make the wall “the most photographed” spot in all of East Texas, Dace Kidd explained. “Somebody can bring their pet, their kid, somebody disabled, groups of photos; two groups of people will be able to pose in front of the wings,” said Kidd.

“Be Happy”

The “Be Happy” mural is an effort to help people ‘be happy’! The 70 feet X 20 feet mural is located on the back brick wall of the ETX Brewing Company, 221 S. Broadway, Off the Square in downtown Tyler. It faces South College Avenue.

Tyler native Lindsay Boone led the project. She says there are at least eighteen different East Texas native wildflowers on the wall because she wanted people to “see something that looks familiar.” In addition to the flowers, “Be Happy” is inscribed in the center.

Annie Gilstrap with the ETX Brewing Company says the tag line for ETX Brewing company is ‘Beer Happy,’ so it was an easy decision to shorten the line to ‘Be Happy.’ “You can’t look at the wildflowers and not be happy, they just bring a smile to your face because they’re just joyful and bright,” said Gilstrap.

The 13 artists involved include Lindsay Boone, Mikayla Willis, David Maldonado, Kate Googins, Tyler Shelton, Justin Fasulo, Rady Randall, Becky Martin, Maddi Travis, Jennifer Vaughn, Julianna Wynn and Chasity Erbaugh. The artists ask that if you take photos with or of the mural, that you use #ETXWildflower when sharing on social media.

“Peace Mural”

How do East Texans celebrate Peace? With art, film, poetry, conversation, joyful gatherings, worship, photography, meals, dance, shopping, community service, children’s activities, and peace pole installations….and at the Peace Mural, located at 308 N. Broadway next to Discovery Science Place in #downtowntyler. Find out more at tylerpeace.com.

“Discover Art”

While at Discovery Science Place, check out the other unique murals located on the outside walls, located at 308 N. Broadway in #downtowntyler.

“Spread a Little Kindness…And Cake”

This cool mural is located on the east wall of Janie’s Cakes, 308 E. Front St., Tyler.

“At Janie’s Cakes, we make an old-fashioned pound cake. And the tagline that we use on a regular basis is that we want you to spread a little kindness one cake at a time. So it was a natural thing for us to paint this on a wall of our building,” said Janie Clapp, owner.

“Like all good Southern girls, Janie learned baking and meal making from her great-grandmother. ‘Papu,’ as Janie called her, made every lick of her baked goods from scratch using plenty of real cream, real butter and real cane sugar. That little slip of a girl grew up to be quite a cook in her own right. After honing her skills at the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York, Janie returned to Tyler, Texas, where she opened Janie’s Cakes in 1987. Today, Janie makes every pound cake the same way she made her very first: from all-natural ingredients, farm-fresh eggs, real creamery butter and with a huge dollop of her great-grandmother’s abiding love.”

They make 26,000 pound cakes a year, in a variety of sizes with different fillings, enjoying busy seasons like the holidays and Mother’s Day. Check out their unique story HERE.

“Three Music Legends from East Texas”

Located 119 University Place, the mural features three local music legends: Van Cliburn of Kilgore, George Jones of Saratoga, and Freddie King of Gilmer. The mural was created and painted by Holt Creative Group of Tyler.

To list more murals here, contact EGuide at eguidemagazine@gmail.com.

Daytrip to Tyler

Downtown Tyler: Fun Events & Places to Explore

Downtown Tyler serves as the home to numerous attractions, restaurants, and businesses all powered by our locals. Tyler’s heart truly beats to support its community. Come down and visit to see what makes Tyler unique and enjoy an experience you can only get here in Tyler! Being the Rose Capital of Texas, we know you will have a Rosey Day while in Tyler!