photo by: Shawn Valverde

A monk gets ready to start working on the sand mandala at the Lawrence Arts Center on Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2024.

With metal funnels, colored sand and extremely steady hands, eight Buddhist monks are crafting a 5-foot-wide mandala this week in the Lawrence Arts Center’s lobby.

From now through Saturday, visitors to the Arts Center can watch for free as the monks from the Drepung Gomang monastery carefully pour colored sand in intricate patterns.

The artwork they’re creating is meant to represent unity, said Kevin Mullin, a film professor at the University of Missouri — Kansas City and organizer of the mandala event.

“I think trying to help bring people back together, particularly at the end of the year, and kind of during this holiday season, I think, is important,” Mullin said.

photo by: Shawn Valverde

Kevin Mullin of UMKC introduces the monks as they begin their sand mandala at the Lawrence Arts Center on Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2024.

photo by: Shawn Valverde

Monks chant at the Lawrence Arts Center on Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2024.

photo by: Shawn Valverde

Two monks begin work on the sand mandala at the Lawrence Arts Center on Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2024.

When it’s finished, the circular artwork will have five rings, starting with a dove in the center. The next ring will contain symbols representing twelve religions, including Christianity, Judaism and Islam.

Other rings are decorated with images representing the four seasons and the eight auspicious symbols of Buddhism. The auspicious symbols, including a lotus and a conch shell, each represent an important aspect of Buddhist beliefs.

The mandala itself is an illustration of another Buddhist idea — that of impermanence.

Once the piece is completed, the monks will carefully dismantle it during a closing ceremony on Saturday. Then, they will take the sand to the Kansas River and release it back to nature.

In addition to making the sand mandala, the monks will be selling more permanent works of art, crafts, jewelry and clothing made by Tibetan refugees. The profits will go toward the monks’ monastery, Drepung Gomang, in South India.

“Every monk needs to be fed three times a day, like anybody else,” Mullin said.

The Drepung Gomang monastery is 600 years old and includes 2,000 monks. It was relocated from Tibet to India when many monks fled Tibet to escape the Chinese government.

This week’s event is part of the monks’ Sacred Art Tour of similar displays across the country. They travel in a big white van, which Mullin calls the “Monk Mobile,” and when they’re not traveling, they stay at the Drepung Gomang Center for Engaging Compassion in Louisville, Kentucky. Lisa Purdon, events manager at the Lawrence Arts Center, said she could not pass on the opportunity to host them.

The Lawrence Arts Center has previously hosted monks in 2013 and 2018, Mullin said. The monks have also made stops in Kansas City and Topeka.

Mullin said the monks’ outreach is a way for many in the U.S. to get a glimpse of a culture that might not be familiar to them.

“It’s important for the community just to be able to meet people from a different culture, to be able to see how other cultures work,” Mullin said.

The monks will work from 1 to 7 p.m. on Thursday, 2 to 7 p.m. on Friday and 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday. Then, the mandala will be dismantled during the closing ceremony from 3 to 4 p.m. Saturday.

photo by: Shawn Valverde

A monk performs a ceremony before work begins on the sand mandala at the Lawrence Arts Center on Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2024.

photo by: Shawn Valverde

Visitors watch as monks begin work on the sand mandala at the Lawrence Arts Center on Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2024.

photo by: Shawn Valverde

Monks work carefully on the sand mandala at the Lawrence Arts Center on Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2024.

photo by: Shawn Valverde

Visitors shop at the Tibetan marketplace at the Lawrence Arts Center on Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2024.

photo by: Shawn Valverde

Goods on display at the Tibetan marketplace at the Lawrence Arts Center on Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2024.

photo by: Shawn Valverde

Wall hangings for sale are displayed at the Lawrence Arts Center on Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2024.