The Muheim "Taking Care of the World Mandala"
In
the Fall of 2007, artist Russell Maier began work with the classes of
Muheim Memorial Elementary School in Smithers BC. Through a
grant from ArtStarts BC, Russell led three workshops
with each of the dozen or so classes of kindergarten to grade seven students in the school.
Mandalas are an ancient
art form that explore symetry, balance and harmony by working outwards
from the centre of a circle. Over 260 Muheim students were led in
the creation of a personal mandala.
The
students were invited to use symbols, shapes and colours to explore
what it means to 'take care of the world'-- Muheim's theme for the year.
After
students had gained the concepts of symetry and geometric
harmony,
Russell guided teams of two to four in making larger collaborative
mandalas. Working in silence the children would have to
dillegently pay attention to their team members in the drawing and
colouring process.
Using
the individual and collaborative mandalas, Russell
then orchestrated the
creation of a 12 by 24 foot grand mandala in the school's gynamsium.
You can see photos of it on this page. Prints will be available in 2008.
In
the spirit of
Tibetan sand Mandalas that are made then destroyed as a symbol of
impermanece, the Muheim Mandala was taken down after two weeks.
In the Tibetan tradition the grains of sand from the Mandala
(that often monks have laboured to buld grain by grain for several weeks) are
gathered together and put into rivers and streams-- to distribute the
energy and blessing of the mandala into the world. In the
same
way, the students of Muheim will all receive postcards with the final mandala image on it, to
send and share with their penpals and friends around the
world.
Prints of Mandala Now Available!
Look
for the upcoming film short of the Mandala Project being produced by
Russell Maier and Muheim teacher Eric Dufresne. To be posted here in
mid-January 2008.
Using the Images
These images are free to use for
non-commercial projects. Be sure to acknowledge where the images
came from, and if possible pay the "enjoyment fee" of 99 cents.
If you would like use one of these images for a commercial
project, or if you require higher resolution please contact the artist for pricing.
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