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What
is
The Peace
Mandala Labyrinth
Project?
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An
art project that teaches peace through education
The Peace Mandala Labyrinth Project
is an ideafor a project that will be both an educational program and
a collective art piece which displays the diversity and unity of the
human race.
Utilizing Mandala
Workshops which integrate math, science and art, students incorporate
what they learn into a meaningful display of self-expression - a
personal mandala. Their individual mandalas become connected with
others to create a collaborative installation art piece- a giant,
walking, portable labyrinth.
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 PART
I:
Learning while creating
The Mandala
workshops blend science, math and art into a multicultural
presentation of ideas and facts. The mandala is used as the
vehicle to teach these diverse subjects because it's very definition
encompasses the whole of creation. The workshops, which will
be adapted to all grade levels, also accommodate different learning
styles. (See "Project Zero" below).
PART II:
Putting the pieces together
Mandalas created
by the students are sent to the project headquarters, where
they will be laminated, hole-punched and then linked to other
mandalas to create The Mandala Peace Labyrinth.
The Mandala Peace
Labyrinth will travel from city to city for display and can
be installed in any suitable location (parks, fields etc.).
Imagine walking
a labyrinth while viewing mandalas created by people from all
walks of life, all cultures. Each unique mandala is unified
in a collective art piece, creating an inspirational visual
experience for the labyrinth walker.
In the past few
years, Cathie LeVasseur has takenThe Mandala Project and labyrinths
to Bulgaria, Romania and Hungary. She incorporated the mandala
into her labyrinth workshops for Balkan youths who had come
together expressly for the purpose of envisioning peace. Read
more about Cathie's
project.
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The
Potential
Understanding
how
everything in life is connected
can help us develop
a vision of the future that supersedes
the boundaries
which politics and
limited thinking
have created
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Education
is a link to creating peace
Through understanding others we can learn to becompassionate and
tolerant. The educational component of this project presents the
fact of interconnectedness scientifically and utilizes a variety
of engaging exercises and visual demonstrations to help teach the
lessons.
We are created equal,
but we're sure not the same!
The recognition that we are not all created equal when it comes
to learning styles is vital to education. As society begins to acknowledge
the existence of different types of intelligence, we can attract
attention to the importance of creating a new curriculum that helps
students achieve greater success.
An expandable project
The labyrinth is designed to accommodate continuing submissions
- it is a growing entity like life itself. It is transportable and
expandable, making it possible to become an international project.
The expandability of the project makes it an exciting venture in
which everyone can participate.
This project is a huge
undertaking and in the very beginning stages of development. I invite
educators, artists, philosophers and caring people to participate
in this project together... all input is welcome. Let's do it...
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