New art installation planned for downtown Mineola alley

Mineola’s downtown is an iconic place in town – one that Mineoleans are proud of. And rightly so; there’s so much that’s beautiful and interesting about it.

Well, good news – downtown is about to have yet another cool aspect.

Off S. Pacific St. (Hwy. 69), across from the CVS, there is an alleyway that is about to get turned into a revolving art display.

According to posts by Wood County Walls (the organization responsible for the beautiful murals recently painted across Wood County), Mineola’s new “Artist Alley” will be “home to a revolving street art exhibit with new pieces by local artists going up quarterly.” 

“Artist Alley will be an on ramp to aspiring artists to engage in Wood County’s art economy,” said Todd Witt, a board member of Flint and Steel – the parent organization of Wood County Walls. “We will see rotating contributions from artists from all skill levels as they create interactive art designed specifically for today’s selfie economy.”

The alley will feature roughly 500 feet of unique art and is a collaboration between many local organizations, including the Mineola League of the Arts (MLOTA), the UT Tyler Art Department, Mineola ISD, the Wood County Economic Development Corporation and other local, independent artists.

In fact, Witt pointed out that “the project will be our first collaborative project with UT Tyler School of Art.” Witt said that the Wood County EDC, “along with all the EDCs in the county,” is funding “a lot of this.”

“We can’t wait…. We are so excited to start,” wrote the MLOTA.

The initial art exhibit for Artist Alley will feature street pieces from local artists, art designed and created by UT Tyler students and their instructor, and “repurpose” style art displayed by the MLOTA. 

For their part, the Mineola League of the Arts is “taking the lead” on one section of the alley, which they are entitling “Repurpose Park.” In this section, the MLOTA will be using old garden carts, cinder block, blackboard, hubcaps and more to create interactive art pieces. 

“Everything in the park will be made from repurposed materials and will make great selfies,” wrote Witt. 

Each art installation will be changed out regularly. Wood County Walls asks that anyone with interest in helping design a Repurpose Park art piece or with items to donate contact the MLOTA. 

The unveiling of Artist Alley will be held on July 20th at 6 pm. Anyone is welcome to attend and come see this novel exhibit in Mineola!