Tyler Parks, Keep Tyler Beautiful unveil new murals at Hillside Park art wall

Published 2:13 pm Saturday, May 15, 2021

Through her contribution to the Hillside Park art wall, Ingrid Horner, a Tyler resident of three years, said she wanted to provide a message that people could relate to.

That message she created can be found in her colorful abstract mural with distorted letters saying, “Let Us Play.” She wanted something that would appeal to youth and their parents visiting the park, located at 1111 E Erwin St.

Horner is among the 18 artists who painted murals on 19 panels at the Hillside Park art wall, a project led by the city of Tyler Parks and Recreation and Keep Tyler Beautiful.

“Everything has been a great opportunity. I love the fact that Tyler gives a chance to local artists of all levels to participate in a project like this,” Horner said. “It was an experience. People paint late, people paint early, so you get to see and interact with people that not only (come) for the painting but people that come for the park. That was great to see so many people visit this park. There’s always someone here.”

The art wall was constructed in 2019, and the city of Tyler and Keep Tyler Beautiful requested local artists to submit their artwork for the panels last year.

The designs will remain on the wall until 2023 when the next round of artists paint their own murals. This process will continue every two years.

Horner said it was rewarding to paint and engage with the people visiting the park.

“This opens the door for more artists, not only for us to do more projects in Tyler, but for other people as well,” Horner said. “Art is a great way to express yourself and people can relate.”

Belen Casillas, Keep Tyler Beautiful coordinator, called working with the artists a pleasure.

“You guys were so professional, so quick. In 30 days, you finished a pretty large panel,” Casillas said. “You did an amazing job, and Keep Tyler Beautiful, myself and the board are very glad to have you guys this year.”

Cristina Fajardo, 23, of Longview, created the “Urban Longhorn,” which included a Texas longhorn and roses, on her panel.

While her original goal was to add a pop of color, this mural also added to her opportunities to create more murals.

“This is actually where it started. It just really opened all the opportunities for me,” Fajardo said. “This is the reason why I wanted to mention that it kind of stood for the beginning.”

She hopes that by her taking a chance she can inspire anyone to go after their art dreams.

“If you don’t succeed the first time, just keep trying. The worst thing is fear. You can always achieve anything you want to do as long as you have your mind set to something,” Fajardo said. “I really hope that this is everyone’s beginning to the next step of whatever you want to do.”

Mayor Don Warren said Hillside is one of his favorite parks, noting that it has both the heaviest concrete slide in Texas and the art wall.

“The thing that sets this park apart and separates it from any other park in the city in the art wall,” Warren said. “When we decided to do that, it really sparked interest from our artists and people wanting to participate and we had so many entries we had to select for the 20 (panels) on the wall, which was a hard thing to do.”

Warren said there were concerns about people tagging the art panels, but the taggers left the art alone. He gave thanks to the artists and noted the importance of the city’s parks.

“In two years when someone comes to paint over your art, I hope you’re not sad,” Warren said. “The whole thing with our parks is gaining so much momentum. Since 2014, we’ve spent over $10 million on our parks, and it’s what we need to do. It brings people out just you guys are out here today, whether to see your art or play on the equipment.”

Tyler City Councilman James Wynne, who represents District 4, said the park area is special to his wife’s family, the Hills, who many years ago owned Sam R. Hill Lumber and the Hillside Shopping Center.

“The art wall was a space where local artists can express and showcase their creativity,” Wynne said. “It’s a wonderful idea to use these concrete panels as a tapestry for our local artists. To take a plain piece of concrete and make it into wonderful art really makes this area more special.”

He added the project would not be possible without the sponsorships of Highland Dairy Foods, Brookshire’s and Fresh by Brookshire’s.