The Mandala Lab

Tim McHenry has been presenting Rubin Museum audiences over the past twenty years with what the Huffington Post has called “some of the most original and inspired programs on the arts and consciousness in New York City.” McHenry initiated some of the early public conversations on neuroscience and contemplative practice in the context of his long-running series Brainwave.

At the Rubin, McHenry specialized in art-contextual experiences that broke the traditional mold, such as an event that converted the museum building into an olfactory Memory Palace; the Dream-Over—a sleepover at the museum for grown-ups— ; and The Game of Life, a museum-wide game of emotions that fostered cooperation.

He is the curator the Mandala Lab – a secular experiential translation of the Vairocana mandala with the involvement of Ponlop Rinpoche, Mingyur Rinpoche, Peter Gabriel, Dame Evelyn Glennie, Sivamani, Laurie Anderson, Amit Dutta, Apichatpong Weerasethakul and other artists. It is now on view in a travelling free-standing version that has been seen in Bilbao, London, and Milan, and is available in workshop form as well as in a classroom version rooted in Social, Emotional and Ethical Learning (SEE Learning ®) in a partnership with Emory University.