SAS Junior, Crosby Averill, Brings Beauty to Patients Though Art

One of the most extraordinary aspects of art is how it can beautify dark corners of a landscape, city or room and invite viewers to contemplate and even find purpose and healing. This is exactly the transformational power that St. Andrew’s student-artist, John “Crosby” Averill ‘26, sought to harness when he set out to beautify a corner of the  Austin State Hospital’s Children Ward with a hand painted mural this winter. 

Inspired by Dr. Jane Goodall's vision and legacy of environmental stewardship, the St. Andrew’s junior kicked off an Austin-based chapter of Dr. Goodall’s youth conservation non-profit, Roots and Shoots. Through months of research and legwork, Crosby developed a service project that brought together his passion for the natural world and his heart for service with Roots and Shoots.

With his vision in mind, he connected to Austin State Hospital Director of Community Relations, Cindy Reed, and together, the two collaborated on a design for a mural that would commemorate the community and brighten the hallways of the Austin State Hospital for some of its youngest patients and staff. 

“Oscar, their therapy cat, had just passed away,” said Crosby. “There was interest from the community to commemorate him in some way, along with the entire community.” 

Crosby hoped that this mural would not only memorialize Oscar and beautify the Children’s Ward, he hoped that this mural would be a source of joy and hope. Another aspect that was important to Crosby was to incorporate nature in some way, along with a quote from Dr. Jane Goodall: 

Throughout the entire design and painting of the mural, part that took the longest, according to Crosby, was coordinating the project specifics, designing the mural, cycling through feedback, gaining permissions and ironing out logistics.

“Once I started painting, the work went quickly,” he said. When Crosby had put the final touches on the mural and the paint had dried, the art was ready to be installed. 

In the lead up to installation day, Crosby was a little nervous. He had worked so hard to bring this mural to life, he said, but he wasn’t certain how it would be received at the Children’s Ward.

But when installation day finally arrived, however, the response was overwhelmingly positive. 

“The ceremony was actually my favorite part,” he said. “All of the work had finally paid off and the kids and staff were excited about it.” 

One of the young patients even gave Crosby a drawing of his own as a thank you for painting the mural.  

Reflecting on the project, Crosby said he would jump at the chance to design and paint another mural in the future. 

“It was a good experience to have, especially for art school,” he said. “It’s not just the painting that is a challenge—creating a design for someone else is a good skill to have and develop.” 

Crosby comes from a family of advocates and artists. His brother, alum Jackson Averill ‘20, is hard at work designing and painting a mural for the Athletics Complex and Student Union, which will open this fall.