Copella Works to Complete Mural at Hansel Plant

KISSIMMEE, Fla., January 31, 3:00 pm – Local artist Tom Copella is hard at work…again. With his supply of paint brushes, paint and nearly an eighth-mile of scaffolding, he’s busy completing a 128′ x 28′ painted mural that will cover two sides of the Kissimmee Utility Authority’s Roy E. Hansel power plant on the western shore of Lake Tohopekaliga. The mural features the steamboat history of the lakefront.

Copella began the 3,600-square foot mural in December and is expected to have it completed in April. The mural will be officially dedicated in May.

Copella’s work is well-known in downtown Kissimmee. In addition to the Hansel mural, he has painted murals at Lanier’s Downtown Market Place, Aaron’s Amish Furniture, and Makinson Hardware. The Hansel mural is his largest and most difficult project to date.

“I’m very excited about this mural,” Copella said recently from his perch 50 feet up. “This mural will be a show piece for KUA and for all of downtown Kissimmee.”

Copella used photographs taken of the lakefront at the turn of the century to develop his mural design and ensure historical accuracy.

KUA is Florida‘s 7th largest municipally-owned utility serving 53,000 electric, water and internet customers in five Central Florida counties. KUA celebrates its 100th year of serving the community in 2001.

Contact: Chris Gent, Manager of Communications
(407) 933-7777 ext. 1116
cgent@kua.com