By: Allison Stevens

Hundreds of hours of labor. Multiple assistants. One lead artist.

These are some of the numbers behind a new mural soon to be unveiled on the campus of the “big little university” in the Blue Ridge the mountains in the north of Virginia.

The man behind the installation is John C. Zerbe, a Veteran of the US Army who uses his artistic gifts to commune with and support members of the military community.

The mission of his latest piece: to thank warriors and their families for their sacrifices to preserve and protect our freedom during and after service. To deepen bonds within and beyond the military community. To lift spirits up and restore health and wellbeing.

“I use art for a bunch of different reasons,” Zerbe says. “Two of the most important are healing and connection.” Indeed, those twin pillars are the driving spirit behind much of Zerbe’s oeuvre, a collection of public art exhibitions in the mid-Atlantic, many of which pay tribute—directly and indirectly—to the military community.

“A lot of people don’t realize what Veterans do,” Zerbe told Philadelphia’s Kensington Voice in 2020. “Without the military, we wouldn’t have our rights. A lot of times, I think people kind of just live their life and don’t respect that, when a lot of the freedoms we have are specifically because of Veterans.”

Above and beyond

Zerbe’s newest piece takes that misperception head on.

The 600-square-foot painting positions Active Duty Servicemembers front and center, standing tall in uniforms in bright greens, blues and reds. A soldier gazes upward, symbolizing hope and strength. To his left, a muted scene depicts the work of service branches on land, sea, air and space. To his right, moms and dads care for families while students and professionals work against a backdrop of blue skies, green grass and silver buildings, representing their successful transition from military into civilian life.

Behind them, a yellow sun casts a halo of warmth on all.

Entitled “Above and Beyond,” the scene represents a full range of selfless work that members of the military community do—both during and after service.

Zerbe and his assistants—which include students who served in the military—are painting the mural on a cinder-block façade of a building on the campus of Shenandoah University in Winchester, Va., a small city in the mountainous “top” of the state. The city is home to another campus—one belonging to Navy Federal Credit Union, which serves the military community and sponsored the work of art.

“Living in Winchester, you get a real sense of how much people here appreciate and admire those who have served this country in uniform,” said Navy Federal’s Dottie Day, Vice President of Winchester and Contact Center Operations. “That pride for our military is felt across the region and is one of the things that makes Navy Federal’s campus here fit in so well with the community. We’re so thankful for Shenandoah University, for John Zerbe, and for everyone who is helping to make this mural a reality, and we could not be more thrilled to celebrate and unveil it at a May 15 celebration here in our city.”

Drawing on military experience

A largely self-taught artist, Zerbe gravitated toward art as a boy in rural Pennsylvania and continued to pursue it after graduating high school in 1994, even as he enlisted in the US Army. A mechanized infantryman, Zerbe practiced art in his unit, redesigning company mascots, for example, and painting a small mural at Georgia’s Fort Benning.

After receiving an honorable discharge in 1997, Zerbe enrolled in college-level art, graphic design and animation classes. Soon after, he apprenticed under a resident artist with Mural Arts Philadelphia, the nation’s largest public art program. Drawn to the physicality and “free-flowing” nature of murals, as well as their ability to speak to large audiences, Zerbe’s career as a muralist was born—and he never looked back.

“Art is an interactive thing,” he says. “If people aren’t engaging in it, then what’s the point?”

Murals also afford Zerbe the opportunity to work alongside fellow artists and assistants, who introduce him to new skills and techniques and different perspectives. Many of his assistants have served in the military, and much of his work incorporates military themes, such as his NFL-commissioned “Salute to Service,” which nods to both the Philadelphia Eagles as well as to airmen who earn “jump wings” in flight school.

Zerbe worked with Veterans to help complete a more abstract military-themed piece at Impact Services, a nonprofit organization that helps Veterans find safe and affordable housing, and others, such as a painting of Rocky, Philly’s famed fictional boxer.

In addition to incorporating Veterans into his work, Zerbe leads trauma-informed drawing and painting workshops to help Veterans and others recover from post-traumatic-stress disorder (PTSD), addiction and homelessness.

“It helps build their strength,” he says. “We need to build up our own confidence and help others do that, too. They’ll say, ‘I can’t paint or draw anything,’ but by the end of the workshops, they’re doing something. Sometimes we can see things in others that they can’t see themselves.”

Learn more about Navy Federal’s Military Appreciation Month initiatives.

Photo credit: Erin Blewett / Kensington Voice.