John Franzen’s photo of downtown Tyler will be displayed around Texas on a Texas Downtown Association banner.

A photo of downtown Tyler taken by native John Franzen is set to travel across Texas.

The city announced Franzen as the winner of a contest in which his photo will be displayed on the Texas Downtown Association banner that will make several stops around the state.

The association is dedicated to helping Texas downtowns lure investment projects, raise awareness of downtown areas and more. Garret Hope, Tyler downtown specialist, said the city has been a member of the association for more than 30 years.

This year, Tyler is one of six downtowns that will be featured on the Texas Downtown Association banner, Hope said. Whenever the association goes to events around the state or is hosting an event, the banner will be on display.

When the association asked city of Tyler officials if they had a photograph they would like to use on the banner, Hope said they took it as an opportunity to reach out to the community and ask local photographers to submit their work.

“We love helping encourage the artist to step out and do things,” Hope said. “That’s one of the biggest things that we’ve learned downtown is that art is huge.”

In all, about 15 people submitted photos, Hope said. All of the submissions were good, but Franzen’s stood out.

Franzen’s photo shows downtown Tyler lit up at night. Hope said it also displays some of those special downtown characteristics such as the neon Tyler sign, brick streets and historical buildings.

“(The photo shows) a very small portion of downtown, but you can really tell what downtown Tyler looks like,” he said.

The city easily could have commissioned someone to take a photo of downtown, but it would not have been the same as giving a resident the opportunity to submit a photo, Hope said, adding that it would not have captured downtown in the same way.

“I think it’s better because it’s somebody from the community who loves downtown, who loves what we’re doing and they get to see their work displayed somewhere,” he said.