Art has always been a part of Samar Mouawad Harik’s life. A resident of Lexington County, she has channeled her lifelong passion through painting 86 spirit rocks for local schools since October 2024.

Born and raised in Lebanon, Samar studied interior architecture at the Lebanese University of Fine Arts. She says she knew art was her passion from an early age—one of her earliest memories is from preschool, when her teacher held up her drawing in front of the entire class, saying, “This is how you should paint.”

Samar and her husband, Ramy Harik, have three children who all attend Lexington County schools.

In 2014, the Harik family moved from Lebanon, choosing Lexington as their new home.

“I survived a civil war in Lebanon when I was seven years old, which made me stronger and love life more,” she said. “We didn’t want our kids to go through the same things. Because Lebanon is always unstable, that’s why we looked for an opportunity to come here.”

When she’s not painting, Samar loves spending time with her family and makes time to return to Lebanon to see relatives and friends every two years. 

Since moving, she has put her artistic talents to work as a freelance designer, creating everything from logos and book covers to custom tattoo designs. She even illustrates her husband’s published books.

In October, a new opportunity presented itself: someone in her neighborhood asked if anyone knew someone who could paint the spirit rocks at a school.

Samar said she could do it, and a new adventure began. She recalls being quite intimidated by the first three rocks she painted.

“I like my comfort. Even when I draw and paint, I usually do it indoors in the air conditioning,” she said. “But doing this was really out of my comfort zone, and I think it’s helped me and made me happier.”

At first, Samar used her computer to create the designs, but with time and practice, she now sketches and paints directly onto the rocks from start to finish.

Using spray paint and acrylic, painting one rock takes between two and three hours. On a busy afternoon, you might find Samar painting up to three rocks, taking up to six hours total.

Most of the designs are birthday messages, while others are “welcome back” messages requested by friends and family. She said her favorite part of the process is seeing families’ and students’ reactions, often receiving photos of their excitement.

Parents and guardians can reach Samar through Facebook [link: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61569568122591] by searching School Spirit Rock Painting (Samar Mouawad). Additionally, three local parent-teacher organizations (PTOs) include her contact information on their websites.