The San Antonio Zoo unveiled phase two of its Africa Live! mural this month with a lush tropical forest and assemblages of large charismatic animals in what UTSA students dubbed, The Congo Basin. The new mural section adds to the phase one project, entitled The Marketplace, and was wholly researched, designed, and produced by students from the UTSA Department of Art and Art History.
The Congo Basin mural was a two-semester project completed under the guidance of UTSA instructor Andrei Renteria. The new addition adds cultures, colors, and patterns of the regions where the animals are found to the façade of the zoo’s Africa Live! realm. The mural depicts many of the animals that live in the basin to include the endangered forest elephant, two species of gorilla, keeled mud turtles, and wolf monkeys.
“For years, Africa Live has been the nerve center of the zoo and an incredibly popular realm for all our guests,” said President & CEO San Antonio Zoo Tim Morrow. “We are excited to showcase this beautiful art to our patrons and proud to continue our collaborative efforts with UTSA. We are confident their work will educate and inspire our visitors for generations to come.”
Dr. Gregory Elliott, Art & Art History Department Chair at UTSA said, “It is a wonderful thing to see the culmination of a three-year effort that has involved so many of our students under the leadership of Andrei Renteria. Five years ago, Andrei came to the department with a vision of adding muralism in a real way to the breadth of our program. With perfect timing, the
partnership with the San Antonio Zoo developed the next year, and generous support from the donors was committed, bringing the project into reality. The mural project required students to use their research, planning, and presentation skills to pitch the idea to zoo officials and the project donors, Martin Salinas, UTSA class of 1994, and Rebecca J Salinas, UTSA class of 2000 and 2011. This mural is the result of a multi-phase project to enrich the entire Africa Live! building. The UTSA Department of Art and Art History is honored to have had the opportunity to bring this project for all to enjoy, and lucky to have Andrei to lead the way.”
The mural project required students to use their research, planning, and presentation skills to pitch the idea to zoo officials and the project donors, Martin Salinas, UTSA class of 1994, and Rebecca J Salinas, UTSA class of 2000 and 2011. This mural is the second in a four-phase project to adorn the entire Africa Live! building. A joint statement from the Salinas’ extends their pride in the artwork and their UTSA family.
“We are honored to have been a part of this project. This mural provided an opportunity for UTSA to showcase the incredible talents of its students in an informative and creative way, and what a better place than at the San Antonio Zoo. The final product truly exemplifies the students’ hard work, dedication, and commitment, and as UTSA alumni, we couldn’t be prouder of them.”