Submitted
The community labyrinth at the Michener Museum
Submitted An artist’s rendering of the proposed community labyrinth at the James A. Michener Art Museum. Drawn by Jean Weston, a landscape architect with Olin in Philadelphia.
- How to help
Contribute to the labyrinth project by sending a check to James A. Michener Art Museum, P.O. Box 64585, Souderton, PA 18964. Write "community labyrinth" on the memo line.
Posted: Tuesday, October 18, 2011 5:00 am | Updated: 6:56 am, Tue Oct 18, 2011.
Finding a spiritual center By Christina Kristofic Staff Writer Calkins Media, Inc. | 2 comments
Shortly after JoAnn Maroney's daughter died in 1995, Maroney went to Our Lady of Czestochowa and asked God for a sign that her daughter was OK. She finished her prayer and walked to her car, and found a four-leaf clover.
"I knew it was a sign," she said. She had never found a four-leaf clover before.
She started finding four-leaf clovers everywhere — in her backyard, in parks. She took each finding as a sign. The signs led her to the Kripalu Center for Yoga & Health in Massachusetts, which has a labyrinth where she found another four-leaf clover. She took that as another sign and visited more labyrinths, where she found more four-leaf clovers.
"I'm not one of those woo-woo people. I'm kind of a normal person. I'm a businesswoman," she said. "I think you have to be open to these things. I think we all, probably, if we were open to these things, would find more signs, if you will."
Maroney decided she needed to create a community labyrinth.
She thought the James A. Michener Art Museum would be the perfect place to do it. And so did the museum board.
"We're thrilled with the notion of working with the neighbors," said Bruce Katsiff, director of the museum. "While the Michener tries to have a national presence, we are still a community-based organization. We have not lost sight of the fact."
Katsiff said a community labyrinth will be a historical, cultural and artistic addition to the museum's offerings.
"Labyrinths have a long history. They go back to medieval times," Katsiff said.
"It's an introduction to a kind of environmental sculpture. Today, there are many artists who do site-specific work. Labyrinths are kind of an early example of that. ... It will add an experience for visitors to see what a labyrinth is like."
A labyrinth is typically a flat circular or elliptical area with a path that follows a circuitous route from the exterior to the interior. The center of the labyrinth is visible from all places along the route, as are the entrance and exit (which are the same).
"Just when you think you're close to the center, it pulls you from the center," Maroney said of a labyrinth's path. "It really replicates the journey of life. Where am I going? Where do I belong? All the questions you ask yourself."
Walking in a labyrinth becomes a kind of meditation. Maroney said, "You really have to focus on putting one foot in front of the other. You kind of start letting go of all the distractions. You kind of start to just be open and receptive to the thoughts that come in."
The museum agreed to let Maroney and the committee she formed — of friends, neighbors, a landscape architect and a labyrinth designer — use some land it owns at the corner of Ashland and Pine streets.
Maroney said she originally was concerned that the corner was busy and the traffic would disrupt the peace of the labyrinth, but a labyrinth designer told her the site was perfect and "the labyrinth will bring some peace to this busy intersection and provide balance."
Maroney and her committee expect the labyrinth to cost $10,000 to $12,000. They are collecting donations of money, materials and volunteer hours. The Michener Museum already has donated $1,000 to the project.
Maroney said she hopes to break ground on the labyrinth in March and finish it by May.
Christina Kristofic: 215-345-3079; email, ckristofic@phillyburbs.com; Twitter, @CKristofic
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Posted in Doylestown, The intelligencer news on Tuesday, October 18, 2011 5:00 am. Updated: 6:56 am. | Tags: James A. Michener Art Museum, Michener Museum, Labyrinth, Joann Maroney, Bruce Katsiff
four leaf clover necklace is so very lucky!
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