Tampa students creating mural with professional artist that encapsulates beauty of Florida

TAMPA, Fla. - A true collaboration is taking place at Berkeley Preparatory School as more than 250 second-to-fifth graders, two teachers and a professional artist are creating a mural that will become a centerpiece on campus.

The artist is Italian painter Francesco Lietti, who's known for colorful murals that depict city skylines. Naturally, the new Berkeley Prep mural incorporates Bay Area skylines.

"In this painting, we try to encapsulate the beauty and the vibrancy and the colorfulness of Florida and Tampa together," Lietti explained. "You have a part of the painting is obviously the city of Tampa, but then the city spreads out into the beautiful landscapes of Florida."

The mural features the architecture of buildings on one side and the beautiful nature of Tampa on the other. The two-week project will conclude this Friday, March 15.

Each student gets three hour-long sessions to work with Lietti and the piece of art. They either paint directly on the canvas or draw elements that will be collaged on to the mural.

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"Everyone can give something to the project. That's the main message," Lietti said.

The importance of working together is also what the teachers want the students to gain from the experience. Many students work on the same sections of the mural. With the collages, one student draws, one cuts it out, while another glues it.

"The funnest part is to work with the kids because they bring a lot of freshness, they bring a lot of ideas, and they bring a lot of spark to the project," Lietti said.

One of the ideas that Lietti learned from students from a previous project was the aspect of collaging. The Hong Kong-based artist had previously worked with a member of Berkeley Prep’s staff. That provided the gateway to this partnership.

"They are going to be just feeling this incredible sense of pride for the work that they did to beautify a cafeteria space in our school, and to feel inspired that they too could create beautiful pieces of art like this," Berkeley Prep lower division director Melissa Davis said. 

For more information on Lietti's art, click here.

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