New Mural and Gardens for CAMHS Enfield Site

When the service first moved into the building in 2020, the site had been unused for some time, so the staff swung into action, supported by growing evidence that connecting with nature is beneficial for mental health and social and emotional well-being.

The garden committee, comprising of staff and families who use the service, put together a proposal for gardens and murals to provide a welcoming entrance for the staff and public as well as therapeutic spaces that could be used for the mental health work that happens at CAMHS

Nurse Consultant and member of the garden committee, Maritza Manojlovic, says “Our hope is that families and consumers will feel more welcomed & relaxed when they attend their appointments. And together with their clinicians will enjoy the benefits of using nature as a therapeutic tool, by having interactive outdoor sessions which plan to incorporate concepts of mindfulness, relaxation, visualization & emotional regulation.”

“Another important benefit is that is has been a very positive staff team building experience, building & planting a kitchen vegetable garden, whilst sharing the responsibilities of caring for the space. Staff also now can enjoy sitting, walking & eating outside, as an extension to managing their own stress during these very difficult COVID times.”

The mural artists are Scott Rathman from Rusted Tin who did the contemporary Aboriginal murals and Alex Sugar who did the nature murals.

The large Aboriginal mural at the front of the building “represents the promise of a new beginning… the iconography across the bottom represents the client and worker coming together to walk together for a period of time and then they separate and walk their own path in a new direction…. The second wall has iconography to represent communication, listening, empathy and understanding…. The final wall has iconography to represent a flower which symbolises hope, growth and change…..”

The cockatoo mural is designed by Alex Sugar to give the viewer the feeling that they are standing on the bank of Dry Creek looking towards the place where CAMHS now sits which was a Native Pine Forest in pre-European times.

The Yellow-Tailed Black Cockatoos visit the pine trees at the site to eat the cones as well as Eastern Rosellas that nest and raise their young here. The plants that are represented are local indigenous plants and are plants that have been used by Kaurna people for millennia. They are Sheoaks, Bulrushes and Wattles. The mural is interactive so that the viewer can try to find 6 creatures apart from the birds hidden in the mural.

The other mural by Alex Sugar is the bee and butterfly mural which is in the car park area. There are native blue-banded bees living in the garden, nesting, feeding and sleeping there. Thanks to a variety of butterfly attracting plants, there are now several species of native butterflies in the garden.

The butterflies on the mural are the Southern Dart, Australian Painted Lady and Meadow Argus butterflies. The wall is designed so that children, young people and caregivers can stand in front of the butterflies and have photos taken so that they can be the butterflies.

This proposal was supported and funded by CAMHS. To date, a butterfly garden and a bush food trail have been developed and a sensory garden will be installed in Autumn 2022.

There is also a COVID-19 Vaccination Clinic here, so if you you'd like to book at our Enfield clinic, visit the Vaccination clinics and sites page on SA Health.

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