It’s a big month for UCSB and the University Art Museum. On April 24th, the Dalai Lama will be visiting campus, and in conjunction, the Art Museum is showing a huge exhibit entitled “Toward Enlightenment: The Sacred Art of Tibet.” It displays some highly elaborate fabric paintings dating back as early as the 1500s. They’re still bright, still strong; details as thin as a hair are still crisp as ever. How they last that long, I don’t know. Go see.

I saw a handful of Tibetan monks on Day 1 of their Sand Mandala creation. I’m a believer in drawing and painting, and how those can never be replaced in a digital world no matter how quickly and easily design can be done. I say the same for what I saw these monks doing yesterday.

Tibetan monks painting a sand mandala at UCSB's University Art Museum.

Four monks were centered around a square platform about 4 feet wide. On it is a (memorized) hand drawn pattern on which they place sand of dozens of colors. They do this by rubbing a metal scraper against a funnel containing sand, using vibrations to control the flow of sand that falls onto the platform.

On Saturday, April 25, there will be a procession, as all Tibetan Sand Mandalas are ultimately destroyed, and the sand is released into moving water. Click here for more information on the event. It’s definitely not something that can be seen often. So if you’re around Santa Barbara on Saturday, spend a day out on the beach in this heat and join.