The Recovery Mural Project
Katie Wilson and a team of local artists, including Hamid Ebrahimifar and Matt McLeod, designed an exterior mural for the new outpatient facility of Natural State Recovery Centers, a treatment center for Substance Use Disorders. Individuals receiving treatment from Natural State Recovery had the opportunity to receive foundational painting instruction and assist in painting the mural.
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Once completed, the mural will become an integral part of an outreach campaign titled #MyRecoveryStory, which will seek to change the conversation surrounding addiction and treatment, bring awareness to substance use disorders as a disease and decrease stigma. The public will be encouraged to take pictures in front of the mural and share their own recovery stories using the hashtag #myrecoverystory.
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Learn more about Substance Use Disorders here.
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Photography Credit: Don Byram
Ready, Set, Go
Matt McLeod, lead painter, and Katie Wilson, project director, get ready to begin The Recovery Mural Project.
Prep Work
The project began with prepping the mural surface. The exterior wall was power washed and primed. Thanks to a generous donation of a scissor lift by Hugg & Hall Mobile Storage, prep work was completed in just a few short days.
Project Projection
A digital rendering of the mural design, provided by McLeod, was projected and traced onto the mural surface.
Black & White
The darkest values in the design were filled in with solid black acrylic paint to create a bold and clear outline for next steps.
Art Lesson
In preparation for painting day, clients at Natural State Recovery Centers received a foundational art lesson from Little Rock artist and educator Hamid Ebrahimifar. Hamid covered best practices for using water-based paints and discussed the therapeutic benefits of painting.
Practice Makes Progress
Clients then had an opportunity to practice painting trees while reflecting on the symbolism of trees. After the painting lesson, clients engaged in a group discussion about the design of the tree mural and its connection to the recovery process.
Painting Day!
Natural State Recovery Center's clients started cutting in the color wash that became the base layer of the final mural.
Team Work
Clients used rollers and brushes to paint over the black and white outline of the mural. The ochre color wash provided a warm background for the cool colors of the landscape to pop.
Warm & Cool
Once the color wash was dry, the negative space was blocked out and a bright purple was applied to the dark areas of the tree trunk. This step began to pull out the contrast between the warm underpainting and the cool colors of the pine tree.
Getting in the Zone
Clients spent the morning painting and blocking out basic shapes in the tree design. While painting the entire mural seemed daunting, focusing on one small section was managable. Clients discussed the comparison to the recovery process: while staying clean and sober forever seems impossible, taking it one day at a time was possible.
Final Touch Ups
Matt McLeod touches up the mural with additional layers of warm and cool colors to suggest foliage and highlights of sunshine on the tree trunk.
Dream Team
Offering this once-in-a-lifetime art experience to clients wasn't possible without the support from Natural State Recovery Centers' amazing staff. Peer Support Specialists, Mental Health Therapists, Care Technicians, Directors and all pitched in to make this an unforgettable experience for everyone.
Mural Dedication
On Friday, December 1st, 2023 the completed mural was dedicated at a ceremony celebrating the incredible services of Natural State Recovery Centers and the power of public art.
Community Partners
Speakers at the mural dedication included Grant Gordy; executive director of Natural State Recovery Centers, Katie Wilson; The Recovery Mural Project director, Matt McLeod; lead painter, Frank Scott Jr.; Little Rock Mayor, Tom Fisher; Arkansas State Drug Director, and Tenesha Barnes; deputy director, Arkansas Opioid Recovery Partnership.
This project made possible with funding from Mid-America Arts Alliance Artistic Innovations Grant
Funding for the grant is drawn from generous underwriting by the National Endowment for the Arts; Arkansas Arts Council; and foundations, corporations, and individuals throughout Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, and Texas.
Mid-America Arts Alliance is the nation’s oldest regional art organization and was founded in 1972 to foster cultural growth in heartland communities. Mid-America Arts Alliance strengthens and supports artists, cultural organizations, and communities throughout our region. It is especially committed to enriching the cultural life of underserved communities by providing high quality, meaningful, and accessible arts and culture programs and services.
