(Oct. 16, 2018) – UTSA art students are making their mark on San Antonio Zoo with a new, vibrant mural on one of its exhibits.
UTSA students and faculty spent hundreds of hours creating the two-story mural entitled “The Marketplace” on the Africa Live! building.
Zoo guests can now enjoy a very colorful depiction of animals indigenous to the Savanna region of Africa. Zebras, lions, aardvarks, warthogs and elephants can be seen coexisting in harmony in a fictionalized trading village.
Andrei Renteria '15, M.F.A. alumnus and a mural painting instructor in the UTSA Department of Art & Art History, coordinated the project and said he’s extremely proud of his students and the volunteers involved for bringing their vision to life on this more than 800 square foot space during the ten-week semester project.
Renteria said his art students had to design, produce, and present their ideas to the zoo. They had to research and study the animals, cultures, colors, and patterns of the region and received helpful input on the design from the African Student Association at UTSA.
“The students had to meet clients and come up with a proposal and budget. It’s helpful to learn this process, if they want to turn their art into a business. This project gives them that opportunity to practice,” said Renteria. “Most of our students are trained as individual painters but for this public art project they got to collaborate and share their talents with the community.”
UTSA students Katie Bollman, Elizabeth Camilletti, Jake Herrera, Rebekah Hurst and Sonya Marie Sky worked together on this mural.
“My art is a part of the community now and my name is out there. I’m just glad that I’m a UTSA student because I don’t think I would have gotten this opportunity elsewhere,” said Bollman. “I remember going to the zoo as a kid and I’m glad I can help create those happy memories for children and their families.”
Tim Morrow ’97, CEO and executive director of San Antonio Zoo, said he’s proud of the work UTSA students put into this mural.
“This year we’re excited to partner with the Department of Art & Art history to help give a beautiful facelift to one of our most iconic buildings,” said Morrow. “I’m particularly excited about this partnership because I’m an alumnus of UTSA and many of us who work at the zoo are.”
“When Tim Morrow invited us to participate in this project, he tapped into what we call the COLFA signature experience,” said Daniel J. Gelo, dean of the UTSA College of Liberal and Fine Arts and Stumberg Distinguished University Chair. “It’s the concept whereby every student that we teach has an opportunity to apply their learning to an experience in the community.”
UTSA alumni, Martin ’94 and Rebecca J. Salinas ’00, ’11, sponsored the project. The couple has generously supported UTSA in the past. They created the Jesus Rodriguez and Lorenzo Salinas Endowed Fellowship in the College of Business and the Angie Martinez Memorial Scholarship in the College of Education and Human Development.
This mural is the first of four phases of student artwork that will cover the Africa Live! building.
This project is the second collaborative initiative between UTSA and San Antonio Zoo. During the 2018 spring semester, students enrolled in a UTSA Honors College course designed and installed three enrichment devices for the zoo’s elephants.
San Antonio Zoo is one of the many partners in the UTSA Classroom2Career program, which offers opportunities for experiential learning in real world businesses and careers. Classroom2Career provides students with opportunities to serve the local community, expand knowledge in their fields of study and fine-tune their hands-on skills prior to graduation.
UTSA is ranked among the nation’s top five young universities, according to Times Higher Education.
Learn more about UTSA Department of Art & Art History.
Learn more about UTSA College of Liberal and Fine Arts.
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