Arts and Culture

Downtown Arts & Culture represents a vibrant ecosystem of artists, venues, businesses, and public spaces that foster creativity, connection, and shared civic pride. From live music to peaceful art galleries, and from public art spaces to lively performances, Downtown Tyler offers arts and culture around every corner.

Artists, Historic Theater, vendors, and women dancing cultural dance downtown

 

  

Gallery Main Street

Gallery Main Street serves as a cornerstone of the Downtown Business, Arts and Culture District as a fine art gallery showcasing the work of local artists. Occupying the beautifully renovated lobby at the Plaza Tower, located at 110 N. College Ave., the gallery offers Tylerites and the surrounding community the opportunity to view fine art created by local artists.

Exhibits rotate on a continuous schedule, so there is always something new and beautiful to see. Each exhibit opens with a reception that features an opportunity to meet the artists, enjoy refreshments and more. The exhibits and reception events are free and open to the public.

Open Monday through Saturday: 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. and Sundays: 11:30 a.m. to 11 p.m.

2026 Exhibit Schedule(PDF, 5MB)

Call for Artists

The gallery hosts rotating exhibits throughout the year, including Featured Artist, Juried, and Partnership Exhibitions.

Entries are submitted through SmarterEntry.com. Artists must create a free account before submitting their first entry, which allows for future exhibit submissions.

Juried works are reviewed by a panel of professional artists. Top-scoring pieces are selected for display, and the highest-rated artwork receives the Best in Show award.

Art Alley

The Art Alley project was created to introduce a space for local artists to collectively display their talents and reactivate a connective alley in Downtown. The project fostered a vibrant space where local artists could collectively display their talents and reactivate a connective alley downtown while creating an art destination for our community. This project features over 40 local artists who produced 43 uniquely hand-painted murals. Every few years, Main Street brings in new artist murals to rotate into the alley, in order to always provide continued exposure for new artists.

The Alley is located behind the 200 Block of West Erwin Street, connecting College Avenue and Bois d’Arc Avenue.

Meet the 2026 Artists:

Aditi Heins, Alita Adair, Amy Watson, Cameron Stokes, Carina Alvarado, Cora Weisenberger, Cristina Fajardo, Dace Kidd, Daisi Joey K, Emily Gora-Delk, Emma Caroline Sparks, Gracyn Campbell, Haley Dacus, Haley McEntire, Ingrid Wolf, Jerrick Guillermo Velasco, Jessika Wilson, Josiah Winger, Juan Cedillo, Maggie Siber, Melissa Moore, Micah Ruland, Nic Trent, Palette of Roses Art League, Robin Sanders, and Zoey Howell.

How to get to Art Alley:

Head south from the corner of College Avenue and Erwin Street. Follow the sidewalk past Moocho Burrito, and the Alley will be located on your right.

Map of art alley behind the Odd Fellows Building and Moocho Burrito, with the streets South Bois D'arc Avenue to the west, West Erwin Street to the north, and South College Avenue to the east.

See the transformation!

Before: 

Art Alley before the transformation: photo of a dilapidated concrete alleyway

After:

Art Alley after the first iteration with a variety of murals in different styles and colors



National Historic District

Photo of a light pole banner in Downtown Tyler with a blue sky and an neon Tyler sign in the background. The banner says

On May 21, 2022, the Texas Historical Commission State Board of Review approved Downtown Tyler as a District in the National Register of Historic Places. The nomination was prepared by HHM & Associates and partially funded with a Texas Certified Local Government grant (TX-21-009). The designation as a National Historic District does not add any additional regulations and allows for contributing properties to apply for State and Federal Tax Credit programs. The district encompasses 68.5 acres of land within the Downtown Planning Area and Downtown Business, Arts and Culture District. The Tyler Downtown Historic District contains about 19 blocks and 241 parcels roughly situated between West Front Street to the south, Border Avenue to the west, the Cotton Belt railroad tracks to the north, and Fannin Avenue to the east. Composing the core of downtown Tyler, the district includes the county courthouse square and federal district courthouse buildings, as well as Tyler City Hall. Click on link below to view the map of Tyler’s Downtown National Historic District.

Map of Contributing Resources in the Tyler Downtown Historic District(PDF, 798KB)

Tyler Downtown Historic District Nomination Packet(PDF, 10MB)

TylerDowntownHistoricDistrictFINAL_web.pdf(PDF, 10MB)