{"id":381220,"date":"2026-08-26T01:36:10","date_gmt":"2026-08-26T01:36:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/381220\/"},"modified":"2026-08-26T01:36:10","modified_gmt":"2026-08-26T01:36:10","slug":"dolly-parton-mural-tampa-artist-finishes-tribute-weeks-before-icons-death","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/381220\/","title":{"rendered":"Dolly Parton mural Tampa: Artist finishes tribute weeks before icon’s death"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

TAMPA, Fla. – Tributes to Dolly Parton are pouring in from around the country, including one painted on the side of a Tampa Heights<\/a> business.<\/p>\n

Artist Cam Parker completed his mural honoring the country music icon about two weeks ago on the side of Robertson Billiard Supplies on North Franklin Street.<\/p>\n

RELATED: Dolly Parton, music icon, dies at 80 following ‘brief battle with cancer’<\/a><\/p>\n

For Parker, the mural was deeply personal.<\/p>\n

“I wanted it to be otherworldly, much like Dolly is,” Parker said. “She’s her own being, her own beacon, like energy. And I wanted to pop that on a wall and make people feel how I feel.”<\/p>\n

\"\" Tampa artist honors Dolly Parton <\/p>\n

What we know:<\/p>\n

Parker, who goes by “PainkillerCam,” says he has been a Dolly Parton fan since he was 8 years old. Her music became a connection between him, his mother and his grandmother, making the project about more than simply painting a famous face.<\/p>\n

PREVIOUS: Dolly Parton’s philanthropy will leave a long-lasting legacy<\/a><\/p>\n

“It was just a really cool connection that connects me to my grandmother, to Dolly and to people like this who are just very unapologetic about who they are,” Parker said.<\/p>\n

Parker says he spent eight days creating the mural, which features a larger-than-life depiction of Parton. He says he wanted to finish it while Parton was still alive.<\/p>\n

When he learned of her death Tuesday afternoon, Parker said the news hit him emotionally.<\/p>\n

“I’m going to be probably a bucket of tears later tonight once I let everything sink in,” Parker said. “But, I am so excited that I’ve been on the Dolly train, and I’ve been completely, utterly obsessed for [about] 40 years.”<\/p>\n

\"\" <\/p>\n

READ: Dolly Parton: Fellow singers, actors, and elected officials remember the global superstar<\/a><\/p>\n

Parker’s admiration for Parton has also shown up in his other artwork. A friend once asked him to create a jacket for a trip to Dollywood. Parker painted Parton’s character Truvy Jones from “Steel Magnolias” on the jacket.<\/p>\n

He says Parton’s willingness to embrace who she is has always been part of what inspired him.<\/p>\n

Legacy of country icon <\/p>\n

What they’re saying:<\/p>\n

Parker says he hopes people who see his work take away the same message he believes Parton spent her career sharing.<\/p>\n

“To live loud and proud, be you, don’t hurt anybody, but like, just be you. Lead with love and be authentic,” Parker said.<\/p>\n

Parker also told FOX 13 he heard from Parton\u2019s representatives before her death. He says they wanted him to know that Parton appreciated the mural.<\/p>\n

The Source: The information in this story was gathered from an interview conducted by FOX 13 with artist Cam Parker.<\/p>\n

Tampa<\/a>Entertainment<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"TAMPA, Fla. – Tributes to Dolly Parton are pouring in from around the country, including one painted on…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":381221,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[104,47,629,115,135,137,136,628],"class_list":["post-381220","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tampa","tag-entertainment","tag-fl","tag-hillsborough","tag-news","tag-tampa","tag-tampa-headlines","tag-tampa-news","tag-us"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/381220","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=381220"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/381220\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/381221"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=381220"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=381220"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=381220"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}