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Midsummer Memory Mandalas at Lakewood
July 29, 2023 @ 5:00 pm - July 30, 2023 @ 4:30 pm
Lakewood Cemetery in Minneapolis will once again welcome acclaimed earth artist Day Schildkret (@morningaltars)
Lakewood’s Midsummer Memory Mandalas event is one of many ways Lakewood is reimagining its role in modern life and making memorialization more relevant, accessible and inviting for new audiences and generations.
“We’ve realized through the years that when people connect more closely with nature, it’s easier for them to remember and appreciate the beautiful fragility of life,” said Julia Gillis, Lakewood’s director of outreach. “That’s why we’re continually creating opportunities for people to make that connection here at Lakewood. Our Midsummer Memory Mandalas experience is one of our most beautiful events.”
At the event, guests can see a brilliant one-of-a-kind mandala created by the artist using foraged natural materials like rocks, seeds, and flowers gathered from Lakewood’s sacred grounds. The artist will speak to the 7-step practice he developed that people can use to create their own artwork, and how the impermanence of natural materials mimic the impermanence of life as they slowly return to the grounds from which they were sourced. This process allows people to reflect on life, loss, and the beauty that can be found throughout a grief and healing journey.
This year, Day’s work will highlight the cemetery’s vast and impressive canopy of trees. Lakewood was recently accredited as a level II arboretum. (Only the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum, a level IV, ranks higher in our state). Guests will also have the opportunity to light an LED candle along the parameter of Day’s piece in honor of lost loved ones.
WHEN: July 29th & 30th
WHERE: Lakewood Cemetery*
3600 Hennepin Avenue
Minneapolis, MN 55408
*On site near the Living Memory Tree
TICKETS: Saturday Night Event is FREE and Open to the Public
Sunday Afternoon Workshops are Ticketed.
Purchase HERE
Saturday, July 29 | 5 – 7:30pm
Community Celebration and Artist Talk
Talk starts at 5:30pm
Located near the front entrance | Free and open to the public
Meet the artist, listen to his story and view the giant memory mandala in its final shape.
Lakewood’s 250 acres are filled with memorial markers, structures and sculptures built to pass the test of time. On Saturday, July 29, we will welcome a very different kind of creation. Artist Day Schildkret will use natural materials he has gathered from the cemetery and its surroundings over the course of several days to create a large-scale tribute to love and loss, using a hands-on practice that combines mindfulness, creative expression and connection with nature. Join us to view the final one-of-a-kind artwork, while enjoying music and refreshments, followed by a talk and book signing from the artist.
Chairs will be available on a first-come, first serve basis. Guests are welcome to bring their own chairs, blankets, or mats to sit on during the talk.
Sunday, July 30 | 9:00am – noon; 1:30 – 4:30pm
Hands-on Mandala Making Workshops
$45 in advance / $55 at the door
Make your own memory mandala to honor someone you’ve lost.
This is a hands-on workshop led by artist Day Schildkret, where you will learn the 7-step Morning Altars process to make beauty out of grief. You will explore and forage Lakewood’s grounds to collect leaves, flowers, stones, bark and feathers as creative materials and use the earth as your canvas. You will make—and deconstruct—your own memory mandala and learn how you can bring this beautiful ritual into your everyday life. Through this mindful practice, you are able to reflect on loss, celebrate life, and transform our grief into beauty.
About Day Schildkret and Morning Altars
Day Schildkret is an award-winning author, artist, ritualist, teacher and is internationally known for Morning Altars, which Buzz Feed calls, “a celebration of nature and life.” Working for over a decade with individuals, communities and organizations, Day is helping to heal the culture through a meaningful and creative response to change. Day is the author of Hello, Goodbye: 75 Rituals for Times of Loss, Celebration and Change (Simon Element/Simon & Schuster) publishing in 2022 as well as, Morning Altars: A 7-Step Practice to Nourish Your Spirit through Nature, Art and Ritual (The Countryman Press/W.W. Norton). More about Day at morningaltars.com and dayschildkret.com
“Nature, art and ritual are three ways that cultures around the world have been transforming grief into beauty for thousands of years. Separately, these three things can open our hearts, bring us back to our center, and connect us back into what’s meaningful. Together, they become a resource and skill so we can feel human again.”
— Day Schildkret, Morning Altars
Sat. July 29 | Community Celebration is free
Sun. July 30 | Private ticketed workshop is $45
Learn more by visiting our website: https://www.lakewoodcemetery.org/event/midsummer-memory-mandalas-2023/
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Explore the beauty that can be found through grief and loss as Day uses foraged natural materials like rocks, seeds, and flowers gathered from Lakewood’s sacred grounds to create a brilliant and bright one-of-a-kind artwork. Through the very impermanence of these natural materials, this earth-art beautifully mimics the impermanence of life as it slowly returns to the grounds from which it was sourced. This healing process allows us to reflect on life, loss, and the beauty that can be found throughout this journey.
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