Union Eagle Senior Housing Project

Three Panel Installation
19′ x 5′

In September 2016, I collaborated with artists Michelle Ciarlo-Hayes and Karen Hunter McLaughlin on a second project for Mission First Housing, a family of nonprofit companies dedicated to providing affordable, safe, and sustainable homes for people in need. The installation was a three panel work, each artist completed one panel. My panel is on the far right.

The Road to Union Mill

The three panels each pay their respects to the history of the building, the invaluable contribution of the employees of all the Eagle Shirt Factory and Union Mill companies, and the crucial contributions of the Bordentown families who reinforced the foundations of this wonderful town with their hard work and dedication.

The first panel, created by Karen Hunter McLaughin, represents the roots of Union Mill, incorporating a nod to its very first manufacturing process. The family tree holds examples of collars produced at Eagle Shirt Factory in the 1880s when the company was founded.

The second panel, created by Michelle Ciarlo-Hayes, pays tribute to the building itself and two of the companies that existed within these walls: the Union Pants Manufacturing Company and Crescent Sportswear.

The third panel, created by Brenda Howell, portrays the life of Mill throughout the years, integrating dancing seniors with vintage Bordentown maps and actual artifacts from the mill’s manufacturing history.

The wave shape of the panels and the train tracks bond all three panels together, representing the passage of time and the connection that links the past to the present.