TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Grad's Murals Pep Up School

Tribune photo by JAY NOLAN

The unnamed mural in the main office is about 15 by 24 feet and multicolored. It depicts a boy sitting on books stacked atop a piano, with other musical instruments and a painting surrounding him. On the opposite side of the mural is a girl sitting on a stack of books.

ADVERTISEMENT

By JOSE PATINO GIRONA

jpatino@tampatrib.com

Published: January 14, 2009

TAMPA - As students race to class, Carlos Pons Paz stands on a ladder in a hallway at Blake High School contemplating and working his next stroke.

He is painting three murals at the campus and is moved by the opportunity to contribute to the arts magnet school, where he graduated last year. He hopes the images will serve as an inspiration, he said.

Teresa Winston, the school's lead arts teacher and fine arts coordinator, asked Pons Paz to paint the murals after receiving a $1,000 grant from the Temple Terrace Arts Council. She felt the murals would help express the school's passion for the arts.

She sought Pons Paz because of his artistic ability. She considers him one of the best artists to have studied at the arts magnet school.

"He is talented in every aspect of visual arts," Winston said. "He can paint. He can sculpt. He is good at jewelry making."

Since December he has worked intermittently on the murals, completing one in the main office. He hopes to complete all three by February.

The unnamed mural in the main office is about 15 by 24 feet and multicolored. It depicts a boy sitting on books stacked atop a piano, with other musical instruments and a painting surrounding him. On the opposite side of the mural is a girl sitting on a stack of books. She is surrounded by a telescope, microscope and globe.

Both students in the painting have backpacks with birds flying from them toward the space between the boy and girl. The birds form into one flock.

The painting signifies the coming together of the school's arts magnet school and the academic curricula.

"We help each other," Pons Paz said. "You network with people who do different things" at the school.

Winston and Pons Paz discussed the paintings before he began. Pons Paz completed a sketch and small drawing to get approval from the school's principal, Winston said.

He is painting a second mural near the creative writing department. It is a scroll with quill pen and ink and an inspirational statement by the 19th- and early 20-century French writer Jules Renard.

A final mural will be near the school's dance department. It will include a ballet dancer and a modern dancer.

The 20-year-old artist has painted since childhood. He was influenced by his father and other relatives who painted in their spare time.

Pons Paz, who was born in Guatemala, took art classes at school and was encouraged by a middle school arts teacher to pursue art studies at Blake High. He said his high school teachers were a major influence, and he stays in contact with them.

Today he lives with his parents in Town 'N Country and makes his living painting commissioned work, including portraits and murals. He plans to attend Hillsborough Community College, possibly to study architecture. He said he wants to keep art from becoming work.

"It makes me proud of myself," Pons Paz said of the murals. "It makes me feel that I did a good job here. What I hope people get out of it is inspiration and pride for the school."

Reporter Jose Patino Girona can be reached at (813) 259-7659.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT