STORY AND PHOTOS BY KAREN BOSSICK
Think of a mandala and chances are you’re going to think of a Hindu or Buddhist symbol representing the universe or a spiritual tradition.
But 15 Community School fourth-graders recently found that the geometric designs reach far beyond to encompass Native American traditions, such as the Big Horn medicine wheels in Wyoming, the dream catchers of the Lakota and Aztec temples in Mexico.
Or, even the Christian tradition in the form of Celtic crosses, the rosary, labyrinths and the mosaic patterns on cathedral domes.
They students in Trent Herbst’s class also found they could make mandalas their own, as they brought seventh century skills into the 21st century.
They learned from the elders of the past while engaging in hands-on learning using drafting equipment, jig saws, vises, chisels, protractors, drills and hammer and nails.
They used math and geometry. And they learned about different cultures, coming to understand that many of the cultures employed similar geometric principles and art forms even though they had no contact with one another.
“The whole thing about mandalas is creating them,” said Herbst. “Some of the students found their thought process changing during the creating so their mandala changed from what they had originally set out to create.”
Students also shared what’s important to them as they created the mandalas.
“I love how deep they took this project,” said Janet Salvoni, principal of Community School’s Elementary school.
While most of the mandalas took the traditional circle form, a few did not. Bode Price built a skateboard with wheels, painting a circular mandala on top. Zach Davis came up with painted piece of wood on which he had laid four decorated rectangular wood pieces.
“I was carving my mandala and it broke into pieces so I started a second one and it broke, too,” he said. “When I broke a third, I decided to go to Plan B and put them together.”
The exercise was designed to show the youngsters that there’s no fear of failure if you have a backup plan, said Herbst.
“I told the kids that when they put ink pen to paper they’re taking a risk. If they screw up, they need to go to Plan B. It makes the kids more resilient, encourages them to push themselves further.”
The students were enthused about what they had learned. Henry Wehner noted that Slavics considered mandalas a piece of art, usually with a religious connotation. Others noted that the Sioux Plains Indians put mandalas on their shields as a symbol of hope as they went into battle. And that Navajo Indians created mandalas in the morning as part of a ceremony. When the ceremony was over, they destroyed them.
“I liked painting them, and I liked learning about the cultures—like the fact that stained glass windows in Christian churches are a form of mandala,” said Anna Yuras.
Georgia Achilles, a new student, youngster created a mandala that represented a sunflower.
“I saw sunflowers on my first day of school at a new school in a new state with a new class,” she said. “Ever since, sunflowers have always come to mind when I look at my new school.”
James Duffield started out to build a mandala revolving around soccer but changed it to “Things I like Under the Night Sky.”
“The center represents myself; the second ring, sports and things I like. The third ring represents family and loved ones; the fourth, nature and the outdoors, and the fifth, the night sky,” he said.
Naomi Page created a “Magical Myths” mandala featuring mythical animals, such as a griffin, a half-lion, half-eagle creature she called “proud and brave.” It also featured a “fierce and loyal” manticore with its dragon wings and scorpion tail; a Pegasus winged horse, which she called “sweet and graceful”; a powerful dragon; a fiery and kind phoenix, a firebird that can light itself on fire to protect itself and a “stealthy” tigerian that stings like a scorpion and bites like a tiger.
Ballard Griswold created Bamboy, which celebrated all things bamboo, while Will Buchanan created “GOAL!!!”
“Mine represents a soccer goal because in soccer there’s a goal and you want to reach your goal,” he said. “The green represents life to the world. The black means the bad people in the world. The white means the people that have died. Up on top there’s a little circle that is blue that means when I was born. The yellow represents my first birthday. The red represents when I got bit by my dog. And the blue represents when I went to Laguna Beach.”
Herbst told the students they can buy things that are done faster on an assembly line where everything is perfect. Or, they can create or buy craftsmanship—something that may not be perfect but is original.
“Which would you rather keep?” he asked. “These are keepsakes.”