No, the Gator football season isn’t coloring your vision: Trees on UF’s campus are actually becoming blue.
Australian artist Konstantin Dimopoulos is painting them as part of a project to raise environmental awareness about deforestation.
He will work on campus all week and will appear at a public welcome ceremony at noon on the Reitz Union Colonnade. Attendees will have the opportunity to ask Dimopoulos questions about his work, which aims to spark conversation.
“We have to start somewhere to get the message across,” he said. “One person can make a difference, but you need other people to spread the message.”
Volunteer Laura Arango, a 19-year-old telecommunication sophomore, said people frequently come up to her to ask what she’s doing.
“A lot of people are concerned that the paint might damage the trees. But after I explain to them what we are doing, they think it’s pretty neat,” Arango said.
Dimopoulos uses pigment and water to create the special paint that does not harm trees. The paint naturally comes off in about six months due to weather.
The $22,000 used to cover the installation cost, supplies and rented equipment was privately funded through the UF Foundation, said university spokesman Steve Orlando.
