Dream-Over 2015

Make the Rubin Museum the place of your dreams. Come in your slippers and pajamas and sleep over at the Rubin Museum beneath a work of art selected just for you. Dream under the compassionate and wakeful gaze of a hundred buddhas.

• Instruction on the role of dreams in Tibetan Buddhist philosophy
• Bedtime stories
• Lullabies
• Dream discussion groups
• Midnight snack & light breakfast

“I have never felt so intimate with a piece of art in my life.”
— Dreamer

Press Coverage : New York Times, Bloomberg, WNYC, Flavorwire

Khenpo Lama Pema Wangdak returns to the Rubin to explain the approach to and significance of dreaming in Tibetan Buddhist philosophy in conversation with dream facilitator Dr. William Braun of the New York Psychoanalytic Society.

Khenpo Lama Pema Wangdak was sent to the West by His Holiness Sakya Trizin, the head of one of the four main schools of Tibetan Buddhism: the Sakya School. He was one of the first of the younger generation of Tibetan teachers in America. In 1989 Lama Pema founded the Palden Sakya Centers which offer courses in Tibetan Buddhist studies and meditation. In New York his Pema Ts’al School provides a traditional Buddhist education of monastic training and study, in the format of Western university teaching. Lama Pema also created a Tibetan Braille. Lama Pema was the first Tibetan ever to have received the distinguished “Ellis Island Medal of Honor” award by the National Ethical Coalition of Organizations in May, 2009 for his humanitarian work around the world.

William H. Braun, Psy.D. is a clinical psychologist and psychoanalyst in private practice who works with adults, children, and adolescents. He is a Clinical Professor in Psychiatry at Lenox Hill Hospital and on Faculty at the New York Psychoanalytic Institute where he is also the Director of Training for the clinical psychology internship and externship programs. Dr. Braun is also the psychological consultant for George Jackson Academy and Hunter College High School and Co-Chairman of the Committee on Public Information for the American Psychoanalytic Association.

THE BASICS

• The Dream-Over begins at 8:00 p.m. and ends at 9:00 a.m. the following morning. All dreamers must arrive for registration no later than 8:15 p.m. or they may not be admitted. Dreamers are expected to stay at the museum for the entire event, leaving no earlier than 9:00 a.m.; readmittance is not allowed.
• The Dream-Over takes place throughout the museum, with dreamers bedding down in the galleries under a piece of art chosen specifically for them.
• Dreamers must bring their own bedding. (See “What to Bring” section below for important details.)
• Single vs. Couples Ticket: When purchasing admission, dreamers will choose between a Single Ticket (for one person) and a Couples Ticket (for two people). Couples Ticket-holders will sleep and dream together under the same work of art and each pay the same price as a Single Ticket. Please note that friends purchasing Single Tickets will be assigned separate sleeping spots that may not be near each other.
• Please be aware that there will be videography and photography documentation of the Dream-Over.
• To help us create an environment of safety, comfort and inspiration, please do not bring any alcohol or drugs into the museum. There is no smoking throughout the Dream-Over and outside access is not permitted.
• All dreamers must be age 18 or older.
• Dreamlife Questionnaires (along with a release form and an emergency contact form) will be made available to ticket holders via email within a few days after purchase. Dreamers must return their forms as soon as possible, and no later than noon on April 28, 2015.

IMPORTANT: Registration is final only after all forms have been completed and turned in on time. Participants who do not turn in their forms by the deadline forfeit their ticket and will not be admitted. Participants will receive their forms and instructions after they purchase their ticket.

DREAMING AMONGST THE ART

Each dreamer will be assigned a specific piece of art under which to sleep and dream. All dreamers must answer a Dreamlife Questionnaire which will inform the choice of artwork. Dreamers will learn upon arrival at the Dream-Over what artwork has been selected for them.

DREAM-GATHERING

As dreamers wake, they will be approached by Dream Interpreters early in the morning and asked to verbalize their dreams while in a state between sleeping and waking.

WHAT TO BRING

• Please arrive dressed in your pajamas, robe, and slippers.
• You must bring your own bedding. The galleries are cold and floors are hard, so bring what you need to be comfortable. Comfy bedding such as duvets, quilts, favorite pillows, thermarests, and blow-up mattresses (with pumps) are recommended for optimum comfort. Tents are not allowed.
• A flashlight.
• Toiletries. While restrooms are available, showers are not.
• It is highly recommended that you bring earplugs, as the galleries can be echoey and noisy, and sleeping masks or a hat to pull down over your eyes, since lights will be dimmed for safety.
• Please eat dinner before you arrive and do not bring any food or drink into the museum. A late-night snack will be served, as well as a light breakfast. Water fountains are available throughout the museum, but food and drink of all kinds are prohibited in the galleries.

#DREAMOVER

Share your thoughts, discoveries, and images of the event with your friends using the #Dreamover tag on social media.