Harborfields High School students involved in Mindfulness Club recently created a schoolwide art installation called, “No Mud, No Lotus” to serve as a symbol for overcoming adversity. The ever-growing exhibit, stemming from a current art exhibition at the Rubin Museum of Art in New York City, features origami lotuses folded by students, faculty and staff.
According to club adviser and high school social worker Susan Koenig, lotus flowers grow from mud and emerge out of water in colorful blossoms. “Even great beauty can emerge from dark, murky places as we too can rise from the challenges and loss caused by the COVID-19 pandemic,” she said.
Since Nov. 9, colorful origami paper has been provided to students during lunch periods along with QR codes that link to directions on how to fold the lotuses. They will continue to be collected through the week of Thanksgiving and hung on the windows in the school’s airport where the phrase, "No Mud, No Lotus" has been painted by National Art Honor Society member Jesse Hendrickson. The lotuses will be added daily, adding a gentle reminder as students and staff walk through the school that “we can grow from this experience,” Ms. Koenig said.