UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA - How many times have you walked by a tree without really noticing it.

Thanks to some vibrant blue paint, hundreds of Univeristy of FLorida students won't have a choice but to notice.

Half a dozen crepe myrtles got a fresh coat of blue paint Monday.

The Blue Tree Project is a public art exhibition that seeks to promote tree conservation and sustainability.

The exhibit took place outside the Reitz Union where thousands of students walk by every day.

Organizers say the paint -- an environmentally-safe, pigmented water -- doesn't hurt the trees and will wash off when it rains.

But they hope to leave a more lasting impression on students.

"I think art is an incredibly poweful tool," Organizer and artist Konstantin Dimopoulos said. "If you can get peep to smoke plants like tobacco and kill themselves, you should be able to, in the same way, use art and design to make people stop cutting."

The project will continue on campus through the week with the completion of Crepe Myrtles Tuesday. 

On Wednesday and Thursday, the artists will turn their sights to oak trees near the Reitz Union and Turlington Plaza.

Organizers say anyone is welcom to help paint.

For more information about the project and Dimopoulas's work, visit www.kondimopoulos.com.