The Butterfly Project Mural

Cheryl Rattner Price and Helen Segal, 2021

The Butterfly Project Mural by San Diego artists Cheryl Rattner Price and Helen Segal was created of 18 mosaic wings from the 400 butterflies. Rattner Price and Segal designed the mural as part of the Children’s Holocaust Memorial at Merage Jewish Community Center. The mural may grow to take up even more of the wall as more ceramic butterflies get painted in the future. Rattner Price and educator Jon Landau founded The Butterfly Project in 2006 at the San Diego Jewish Academy.

The Butterfly Project is a call to action through education, the arts and memorial making. It uses the lessons of the Holocaust to educate about the dangers of hatred and bigotry and cultivates empathy and social responsibilty. Participants paint ceramic butterflies that are permanently displayed as symbols of resilience and hope, with the goal of creating 1.5 million butterflies around the world – one for each child who perished in the Holocaust, and honoring the survivors.