Katy approves mural on water tower

The City of Katy has hired Artistbrothers to paint a mural on its water tank. The City of Katy has hired Artistbrothers to paint a mural on its water tank. Photo: Artistbrothers Photo: Artistbrothers Image 1 of / 8 Caption Close Katy approves mural on water tower 1 / 8 Back to Gallery

Katy residents may soon see flying geese appear on municipal water tanks after Rolf and Peter Goetzinger of Spokane, Wash., complete their commissioned murals.

On July 24, Katy City Council approved 4-1 to spend $36,750 in reserve enterprise funds for a mural on the 250,000-gallon elevated storage at water plant No. 2. The "no" vote belongs to Ward A Councilman J. Gary Jones who said he couldn't justify painting a mural on a water tank. "We don't need a mural for $36,750."

A similar mural will be painted on the other water tank in the city, but that project is being handled by the Katy Management District, according to city officials.

The city is planning an unveiling event once the murals are complete.

For more than 20 years, the Goetzingers have been creating murals on water tanks. Their business is called Artistbrothers.

Because of the Katy Prairie and a bird sanctuary where a lot of geese winter, the mural will feature geese in a "very stylized artform," said Rolf Goetzinger, along with "Katy" on two sides in red letters.

"We rent a telescopic boom that gets us around where we want to go," he said about painting the 135-foot tall structure.

The mural will be approximately 20 by 135 feet in size and be painted after the tank is coated.

There will be images above and below the handrail so that people can see them from a distance but also see them from below, too, he said.

Goetzinger said he and his brother use rollers to apply Tnemec paint, which he called fairly UV resistant.

"Over a 20-year time, you want to keep as much color as you can keep," he said. If it were just a colored tank, it would be less noticeable but with a mural people will notice fading colors.

"When it cures, it's like glass," added Goetzinger.

"We enjoy every tank we work on. Every tank has its own challenge."

He said much of their work occurs in California and the Pacific Northwest.

The challenge he sees in Houston is weather-related. In the Houston area with its high humidity, the tank would tend to sweat because of the difference in temperatures between the interior and exterior and there can be no painting until there is a dry surface, he said.