Art and heart of Autryville

Sep. 11—In Autryville, beautification of the town has been a strong, ongoing push that hasn't stopped. The most recent addition on that front is perhaps one of its most gorgeous and heartwarming yet — a mural.

The mural is located down Gray Street and is painted on the side of Bea's Country Store. It features a depiction of many different aspects of the town, from a train station, pine trees, the water tower, a cardinal, the American flag and many others. Each piece represents the heart and soul of not only Autryville, but North Carolina as well.

The mural itself is a byproduct of a group effort between the town board and Caitlin Craven, one of its own who was born and raised in Autryville. This project, as Craven noted, was in the works for a year before its completion and Craven shared the story of how this journey all began.

"A year ago, my parents went on a trip with the Spell family and the Spells were throwing around the idea of having a mural in Autryville, and my mom was like, 'Oh, I know the perfect person: my daughter, Caitlin,'" she said.

"Now, mind you, this was my first mural and she didn't even tell me about it, which is fine; I love that," Craven said. "They reached out to me a few months after they got back from the trip and began setting the stones, I guess you could say, since it wasn't an actual concept yet. After we got a feel for it I was like 'yeah, absolutely I would love to try it out.'"

"They were giving me a chance and they were risking it by picking me and I couldn't be more thankful."

After both parties agreed to initiate the project, the long process of actually designing the mural took off. Craven walked through that phase and shared another story on how it came to be. A deep look back at the history of Autryville was the guiding idea.

"To be completely honest, they came up with the idea," she said, with a chuckle. "We met at Cool Beans a couple of times then just sat down as we mapped out the entire history of Autryville and what made the town feel special."

That was a long history they pondered through before reaching the final concept: The water tower, the fire department, farming, watermelons, hoop cheese. These and much more are all a part of that rich history of ideas through which they shuffled.

"A few things that stood out to us were the ginnery, that was really impactful," she said. "Also, obviously the water tower, that's like a staple of Autryville history; and the train station that used to be there as well."

"We played around with the idea of hoop cheese and also farming, which is really big — especially watermelons," Craven continued. "The American flag, obviously, we also wanted to include a little note in the mural that says AFD, which stands for the Autryville Fire Department, because they're really awesome and a huge part of Autryville's history. Also there's the new helipad out there."

"Then there's the standard old gas pump that is one of the gas brands that (Autryville Mayor) Grayson (Spell) mentioned, was really important," Craven said. "Turpentine was also really big, so we put two barrels of turpentine in the lower right hand corner."

Craven continued her dive into some of the many ideas that led to the final design of the mural, noting that giving representation of North Carolina was equally important.

"Obviously, the three emblems in the front are the pine cone, the dogwood and the cardinal, which represents North Carolina," she said. "Then the pine trees, of course, because they're everywhere in Autryville. Plus it represents the Long Leaf Pine for North Carolina and the surrounding areas."

"At the very top of the mural, you'll see it says Autryville and it has a heart that says NC and then it says 'This Place Is Home'. That is reference to their logo that they have made and so I tied that into the mural as well," Craven continued. "It was just a really special project and we really took the time to get it right. I completed about three drafts before the final pick was chosen and then I did another draft of the final pick. We chose the look we did because Taylor, Grayson's wife, wanted a postcard feel that was like a montage of the history of Autryville. So that's kind of how we got our final, final piece."

Once the design was finally chosen, she got straight to work and it took her months to complete it. Craven is a full-time school counselor and had to balance work with the mural, working on it late into the night over and over. While she said it got taxing at times due to heat, she never stopped loving every minute of it.

"It was work and we'd been planning this thing since, I'm pretty sure, before Christmas, but it's been a long time coming," she said. "I would work on that thing, let me tell you, all night on some days."

"With my schedule, I would leave work at 2:30 p.m., I would get there around 3:30 p.m and I'd work until like 10 at night almost every night," she said, with a laugh. "It took me, I want to say, three weeks but in a month's time. I started June 23 and I completed on Aug. 4 and it was hot, like I can't even begin to describe."

"I think the highest it got was like 106 and, oh my gosh, it was insane. Even in the nighttime it was hot, hot, but we got it done and I still loved every minute of it."

Even while battling through long hours and grueling heat, Craven pushed through until the end. She said it was a feat made possible thanks to the sheer amount of support she got from her fellow Autryville kinsman.

"They were supportive every step of the way. Whatever I needed, the town, the awesome town hall and their members always helped me," she said. "If I needed something like a drop cord or just anything at all, they were out there. That was extremely, extremely awesome to have that support, but it was a daunting task. I'm very, very thankful for the opportunity though and I just hope that I encompassed the feel of Autryville."

When asked if she would do it again if called upon, she said she would but only if it's cooler. "It's been a process, but it's been an amazing one, so I would definitely do it again, but maybe in the fall," Craven said with a laugh.

After growing up in Autryville, Craven never imagined that she'd be painting a mural to help beautify her hometown.

"This is kind of like the realm of the history of the mural and why we did it and what it represents," she said. "It really does represent the heart and soul of Autryville and what makes Autryville who they are today. I'm just so thankful that I got to be a part of their history. I mean, as a little girl, I was growing up at Harper's House right across the street and here I am, nearly 15 years later, painting a mural on the side of their general store."

"That is awesome and I love talking about the mural because I know how special it is to so many people," she concluded, "and I'm just very thankful that they chose me to do that."

Reach Michael B. Hardison at 910-249-4231. Follow us on Twitter at @SamsponInd, like us on Facebook, and check out our Instagram at @thesampsonindependent.