Meet Matilda!

Hey supporters of the Harrison Center! My name is Matilda Green and I’m a two-week intern at the Harrison Center. I’m a junior in high school and a born-and-raised Chattanoogan. I’m working with Megan Auffarth, Hogan Hickman, and Onyea Cummings on the Center’s annual fundraiser where we create 5,000 handcrafted envelopes. The project is designed to create a piece of art for those who receive the letter in order to emphasize the “beauty in ordinary things” as my new friend Hogan said. This is important to me because (especially in Indianapolis and where the Harrison Center has influenced), everywhere in creation, beauty can be found.

I love how the Center upholds this idea and I’m blessed to be able to contribute to the project. My first week has been mostly stamping the pink peony (Indiana’s state flower) design that Megan created on each envelope, aiming to stamp 4,000 of them. Hogan has begun to address them with her very skilled hand. Inspired by her gift of lettering, I’ve addressed some as well and hope to get better.

I’ve always enjoyed making words beautiful,  and I often do so in my own way through the art of embroidered words. Along with that, I love creative writing, tiny journals, getting to know new people, mac and cheese, playing guitar, and making cards. Although I don’t see myself pursuing a career in any of the mentioned art forms, I hope to keep them in my life.

I became aware of the Harrison Center through Covenant College connections with the inspirational woman herself-- Joanna Beatty Taft (a Covenant alum). My dad has worked at Covenant in Tennessee as a history professor for 20 years now and I love what the school represents. Although my love for the college and my home is strong, Indianapolis has captured my heart these two weeks and has made me want to stay longer and consider a future in this vibrant, artistic city.

I see myself in the future working with people or studying them. My church has a program that provides temporary housing to homeless families which interests me, but I could also see myself in the medical field since I’m interested in biology, being a nutritionist, or someone specializing in mental health. My internship coming to a close, I’m endlessly thankful for the small window of time where I got to intern at a place full of insight and love for beauty!