TAMPA, Fla. — There's a new 2,000-square-foot mural at ZooTampa in a pedestrian tunnel. It's one of a series of Valspar murals that coincide with the recent Valspar Golf Championship in Palm Harbor.
It's meant to show the connection between humans and animals. The artist is Carlos Pons. He moved to Tampa from Guatemala when he was just 10 years old. He talked about how his experience coming here influenced his work and his inspiration for this most recent mural.
"Living in a country that's not yours and going through the process, the very long process of naturalization is certainly something that impacted me throughout my whole entire young life," Pons said. "So I think if anything it just gives me perspective on people and circumstances."
He said that he's able to see a lot of opportunities and resources in situations because he comes from a place "where you wouldn't really be able to dream of being an artist the way I am here."
Pons used to be an art instructor for adults with special needs. He said it wasn't really teaching because a lot of the adults he worked with have been artists their whole life.
"It impacted me because I felt like I learned more from serving that population than me teaching anybody art," he said.
His new mural at ZooTampa allowed Pons to create artwork with facial expressions, which he has not historically done.
"Murals in general always have a positive reaction because you're bringing beauty into the world and you're sharing your passion. Inevitably that inspires people. People feel fired up by it. Here it was to a whole other level."