New Exhibit At Philadelphia Zoo Encourages People To Interact For A Cause
By Justin Udo
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- A new exhibit comes to the Philadelphia Zoo, and people are being encouraged to interact with it.
The 3D mural lays on the ground and is about 20 feet long and 20 feet wide, and features giraffes, tigers, monkeys and birds just how you may see them in their exhibits.
"We've done this picture with this slide that goes down into the zoo and people can pose on it, take their pictures and share it on line," said Joe Hill.
Hill, who is also known as the Pavement Picasso, painted the 20x 20 ft 3D optical illusion ground mural that features different animals from all over the zoo. He says he loved composing the painting but he's even more excited to see pictures people take on it
"There's just a lot to see. There are a lot more elements than I normally put into a picture, so hopefully you'll be finding lots of different things if you take photos of it. You'll go, 'oh i hadn't spotted that before'," Hill said.
Zoo president Vikram Dewan says whenever someone takes a picture on the 3D mural, and puts it on social media with the hashtag #sendakid, something special happens.
"For every 50 of those social interactions Xfinity will send one child from one of our under-served neighborhoods to the zoo for free for an amazing visit," Dewan said. "The goal of hashtag send a kid, is to send 10 thousand kids from under-served neighborhoods to experience the Philadelphia Zoo during the 2017 school year."
Mural artist Hill says he's sure Philadelphians can come up with some creative ways to interact with the painting, and he's excited to see what they do.
In addition to sponsoring the hast tag #sendakid campaign, Xfinity Comcast is adding 100 free wifi hot spots around the zoo, for all mobile users.