Members of the Eagle’s Nest Clubhouse worked closely with students of Washington and Lee University (W&L) to produce a collaborative mural depicting the individual recovery journeys of each member. ENC manager Phil Floyd’s wish for this mural, as it has been his dream for years, is that it provides a source of inspiration in the recovery process as well as resources for those struggling with mental illness. 

The design process began with clubhouse members participating in sketching sessions that allowed them to reflect on memories and things that they associate positively with their own personal paths to recovery. As the sketches were collected, W&L students worked to create a comprehensive design that fused together the reoccurring images in the members’ initial sketches. The surrounding border panels contain individual images from each member that were scanned, traced, and painted to draw from the overarching themes within the larger mural and provide an opportunity for the members to have a space to personally create and transfer an image significant to each of them.

For several members, inspiration for imagery came directly from memories explicitly tied to feelings of safety, comfort, or community. At the same time, many of these images suggest the idea of forward movement, restoration, continuity, or growth, all of which point expectantly and hopefully towards a positive future. 

From the outset of the project, Mr. Floyd and the members made it clear that the morning sun star was a central image of recovery for one the Eagle’s Nest Clubhouse’s beloved members, Clyde, who recently passed away, and thus a crucial aspect of the mural. Clubhouse members recall Clyde as a strong force in helping others with their own recovery from mental illness. Clyde’s own story of recovery began during his time in Vietnam. Nearly every morning he would wake up to watch the sunrise, and it was this powerful image of the morning sun that helped him to combat his mental illness. This image of the sun star played a vital role in Clyde’s recovery process and in his life as a whole. Upon returning from Vietnam, Clyde kept a calendar to mark each morning that he would wake up and watch the sunrise. Each day marked was another day worth living. 

Throughout the course of the project, W&L students collected audio narratives and documented special elements of the process to be housed online in an interactive mural model. This documentation process ensures that not only can the members of the Eagle’s Nest Clubhouse have a voice that remains in the project, but also that their stories will reach much farther and last much longer. In documenting this project, the process will not be lost and the stories of the members will be heard.  

Here, you can find experiences and documentation of the process from the W&L assistants: