[1][2] He found inspiration during his childhood in Warrensburg where he saw local painters at work, including George Probst and Walter Hout.
[1] He married three times, to Mary Aline Lane, Laura Alice Jackson, and Lillian Lee; and had one daughter.
[1] The “Tayes Art Museum” was the informal name of his in St. Louis barbershop at 122 North Third Street; he would display his artwork there.
[1] Tayes worked as a barber out of his home at 528 Lafayette Street in Jefferson City; in an African American neighborhood's commercial district (during racial segregation) called "The Foot".
[4][5] "The Foot" neighborhood of Jefferson City no longer exists, but it was unearthed during the Lafayette Street interchange construction in 2015.