The Sun Center will be home to a new 19-foot mural showcasing undersea life.
352walls and UF’s College of the Arts held a competition to design a mural to paint in downtown Gainesville. Today, the winning mural, created by UF art senior Rafael Moura, will be finished at the Sun Center, located at 101 SE Second Place.
About 12 students from the class Site Specific Painting submitted proposals, said Julia Morrisroe, an associate professor in the School of Art + Art History.
Submissions consisted of an idea for the mural, a written description of how it would fit downtown and how it would be created, she said.
Morrisroe said she wanted students to be able to show their work on a larger scale and to a larger audience.
“It’s very different to try and work at a scale than traditional painting,” she said.
Raquel Vallejo, the coordinator of the collaboration, Morrisroe and two faculty members from the School of Art + Art History reviewed the entries.
The judges unanimously chose Moura’s mural because of its composition and color, Vallejo said. The entire class helped paint the mural.
She said she hopes the project will lead to more interaction between UF and the city of Gainesville.
“It’s fantastic. It opens up a whole conversation,” Vallejo said. “To me, it’s a natural tie-in later on when we do more walls, and when famous muralists come into town, they can engage with students.”
Students enrolled in the UF College of Arts class, Site Specific Painting, collaborated with 352Walls to paint a mural at the Sun Center in downtown Gainesville, located at 101 SE Second Place.
