The word rabble usually represents a disorderly crowd, but we recently learned that a group of butterflies is also called a rabble. If you visit HCCC from August 6th to October 2nd, you will have a very special opportunity to contribute to a rabble—and not one, but two, public art projects.

As part of our 10th Anniversary celebrations, we are asking our members, friends and visitors to help us turn colored origami papers into three-dimensional butterflies that commemorate special events and activities this fall. Look for tables set up in the small gallery or lobby, where you can sit down and learn this simple origami fold. We expect that, over the course of the project, the installation of your butterflies will grow to cover a complete display wall at HCCC.

The butterflies will have a second life during the Spring 2013 unveiling of I Never Saw Another Butterflyat The Holocaust Museum Houston. The Museum is collecting 1.5 million handmade butterflies in a visual remembrance of the 1.5 million children who perished during the Holocaust. When the rabble settles down at HCCC, we will contribute the butterflies made by all of you to this honorable project. So, come on over, get folding, and join us for this fantastic community project.

The Butterfly Project (detail). Photo by Kim Coffman.