In today’s regularly scheduled meeting, the Tyler City Council accepted the Texas Municipal League’s 2016 Excellence Award for City Spirit.

Texas Municipal League (TML) presented the City this award for the “Beauty and the Box” project on Wednesday, Oct. 4, during the annual TML Conference in Austin. This award recognizes projects focused on neighborhood clean-up, beautification, economic development, historic preservation and or other projects supported by broad-based city efforts.

“This is one of the highest accolades a city government in Texas can receive,” said City Manager Ed Broussard. “It’s was a unique project that perfectly exemplified the category of the award - City Spirit.”

In March of 2016, several City departments and community members joined together in a creative effort to beautify Downtown Tyler, wrapping ordinary traffic control system boxes in vibrant artwork. The city looked at more than fifty pieces submitted by local artists before judges narrowed the choices to ten. Those selected are now displayed throughout the Downtown Business and Arts Culture District (DBAC).

“The response to this project has been overwhelmingly positive, both locally and socially” Broussard continued. “It’s a great opportunity to take something utilitarian that we may not even notice, use it to showcase local talent and beautify the city at the same time.”

Due to the many requests to continue the Beauty and the Box project beyond the DBAC, the City has announced sponsorship opportunities that are available to businesses, organizations, school groups and individual citizens. To maintain consistent quality for this project, future selected traffic boxes will be covered with a laminated vinyl wrap made by the Tyler Wrap Company.

To become a Beauty and the Box sponsor or for more information on the project, please contact Rachel Northcutt with Keep Tyler Beautiful at 903-595-7217 or RNorthcutt@tylertexas.com.

More From 101.5 KNUE