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Last fall, the Rubin Museum of Art’s Education team hosted a weekend of open houses for various audiences including K-12 educators, university professors, and families. Throughout the weekend, over 150 educators, professors, and families came to watch three Tibetan Buddhist monks create a sand mandala dedicated to Green Tara, a Buddhist deity and protector. To accompany the creation of the mandala, the Rubin Museum’s Education Department presented a series of activities, talks, and tours to demonstrate the many ways that we use mandalas for our school, university, and family programs. Below you can find a recap of the weekend, in pictures.
![Before any sand was poured, the monks carefully drew out the mandala using rulers and compasses.](https://rubinmuseum.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/MandalaOpenHouse2.jpg)
![To create rich details and ornamentation, the monks layer the brightly colored sand, forming patterns.](https://rubinmuseum.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/MandalaOpenHouse7.jpg)
![Tashi Chodron, Coordinator of Adult and Academic Programs, led a Q&A session with the monks.](https://rubinmuseum.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/MandalaOpenHouse9.jpg)
![During their final ritual, the monks make many mudras, or symbolic hand gestures. This particular mudra is meant to symbolize a three dimensional mandala.](https://rubinmuseum.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/MandalaOpenHouse19.jpg)