Consider the Lilies

Artist

Sarah Eberly

Location

Hall Manor @ Bldg #38 NB, Harrisburg, PA 17104

This bright, hopeful, nature-inspired mural was thought up by Harrisburg-based artist Sarah Eberly, a 2024 transplant originally from Ohio.

She wanted to create something whimsical, specifically for the youth of the neighborhood.

“Caterpillars jumped to the forefront of my mind,” she says. “Thinking about how they represent that youthful, transitory stage of our lives where we’re trying to figure out our identity.”

To her, caterpillars represent how growing up can feel crazy and strange.

“Caterpillars are weird. They are so awkward, and strange, and squishy, and spiky. It’s like, ‘How does that thing become something so beautiful like a monarch butterfly or moth?’” 

She completed the mural over the course of 10 days, working during a heatwave that kept temperatures in the 90s.

“The paint dries super duper fast in the heat,” Eberly says of the weather, joking that “you’ve got to work fast and stay hydrated and make sure you don’t fall off the ledge of the lift.”

Across the street from Eberly’s mural is one by a fellow Harrisburg artist Sharnee Burnett, featuring butterflies. Eberly appreciates the symbolism.

“The quote that her mural is based off of is about the glory of the butterfly and its beauty. It’s about the process of becoming,” she says. “That’s the same vibe that I was going for with the caterpillars, so to have them next to each other is perfect.”

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