1. Kavita Singh
A510 Museum Education
Final Project: Program Plan
December 5, 2012
SATURDAYS AT THE PARK: MANDALA ART
Introduction:
Saturdays at the Park is family program offered by the Indianapolis Museum of Art
(IMA), which takes place once a month in their 100 Acres: The Virginia B. Fairbanks
Art and Nature Park. On their website, the IMA states their mission to serve their
communities by “fostering exploration of art, design, and the natural environment.”
They are able to engage their visitors not only through their collections and exhibits,
but also through programming and activities that occur both in the museum and the
Art and Nature Park. Saturdays at the Park is one of these programs that fits into the
IMA’s mission of combining art and nature into a process of creative discovery. The
program activity I am creating is a family workshop focusing on the topic of
environmental and land art, where participants will collect and use objects from
nature to create mandalas. Participants will loosely adapt the concept of mandalas,
which is a circular graphic artwork created from patterns and designs, mainly used
in Hindu and Buddhist religions. Participants will have the option of creating a
smaller mandala out of natural objects to take home and/or participating in a larger
collaborative mandala. This fits in with the museum’s mission and educational plan
by encouraging exploration of the Art and Nature Park as well as supporting family
learning. Students will also be exposed to a new cultural form of art, as well as
learning how to describe objects using descriptive art vocabulary. Additionally, part
of the outcome of the activity will ideally be a collaborative, site‐specific work of art,
reflective of the theme of the museum’s art park: “to feature the ongoing
commission of site specific artworks.”
Explanation of Learning Framework:
The learning framework for this program is based on constructivism and Falk and
Dierking’s Contextual Model of Learning. Constructivism argues that knowledge and
the process of obtaining knowledge are constructed by the learner. Falk and
Dierking’s Conceptual Model of Learning encompasses three quadrants of learning:
personal, sociocultural, and physical. Constructivism will be applied in this program
in several ways. First, the participants are creating their own thoughts and meaning
of natural objects when they both collect, use, and create dialogue around these
objects. Their construction and interpretations of these ideas will occur within a
social and collaborative environment, which incorporates Falk and Dierking’s
model. The participants will ideally adapt to the constructivist theory by taking their
former knowledge of these familiar natural objects and creating a refreshed outlook
and meaning through their creative uses. The concept of constructivism argues for a

2. focus on the learner and their process. Falk and Dierking’s Conceptual Model of
Learning will also affect the learning framework of this program. The physical
component of this model is elaborated in the program through the use of the Art and
Nature Park, a natural environment that the participants will be utilizing and
influenced by when immersed in the space. The personal context is created when
the participant accesses what they already know about and use natural objects for,
but challenges their assumptions by revamping the objects’ uses in the process of
art making and raising environmental concerns. The sociocultural component of this
theory is at the forefront of this program; the activity focuses on meaning making
through family and group interaction and collaboration. Educators will also
encourage dialogue between participants, whether within their own families or
among the other participants.
Program Plan Template:
Program Name: Saturdays at the Park: Mandala Art
Program Category: Family/Public Workshop
Program Description: I am creating a family workshop for the Indianapolis
Museum of Art’s (IMA) Saturdays at the Park program, which takes place once a
month in 100 Acres: The Virginia B. Fairbanks Art and Nature Park. The IMA refers
to this program as an “interactive park adventure” for an intended audience of
families (children 5 & up), with the goal that people of all ages will explore and
interact with the outdoor space in new and engaging ways. The workshop will focus
on the theme of site‐specific art, particularly environmental and land art, in which
participants will explore the park and create a mandala, a circular patterned
artwork usually created from natural objects and is used in Buddhist and Hindu
cultural traditions. Participants are invited to create their own mandala and/or
contribute to a collaborative site‐specific mandala that will temporarily be a part of
the Art and Nature Park. These mandalas will be made from natural objects found in
the Park, which, according to the IMA’s rules, must be objects already fallen on the
ground. The Horticulture and Grounds department can also set aside materials from
areas that are cleared or cutback. The larger, collaborative mandala will temporarily
remain in the 100 Acres, accompanied with signage describing the project and also
promoting future Saturdays at the Park programs. The workshop will aim to
facilitate dialogue between participants, family members, and staff/volunteers
about describing natural objects and using them in art making, challenging their
prior definitions of these objects and releasing an imaginative outlook. The goal of
the dialogue is to inspire and motivate the audience to visualize their own ideas for
the piece they will create and/or incorporate into the larger collaborative mandala.
How the Program fits into the mission of the museum: The IMA should support
and implement this program because it falls into the goals of their mission:
promoting art and nature. It also incorporates some of the artists whose work the
museum holds in their collections, such as Robert Smithson.

3. Proposed Date/Time: Fall season (September/October), morning/afternoon,
approximately 2 hours, one‐time event (Saturday at the Park takes place once a
month, with a different program activity each month)
Estimated Program Budget: Maximum of $500 (IMA’s allotment for each activity
in this program)
Target Audience: This program’s primary audience is children (mainly ages 5 and
up) and families. The secondary audience would be the general public, but would
most likely appeal to those interested in land and environmental art.
Anticipated Attendance/Capacity: Approximately (and ideally) 30‐50 people total
(including both those who participate or choose to observe)
Potential Funders or Sponsors: Sponsors could possibly consist of some
community‐based art centers with a focus on youth, such as Big Car or the Wheeler
Arts Community, that could bring in artists and even interested participants from
their community/neighborhood. Funding would come primarily from the IMA’s
budget for this particular program, but possible grants or donations could come
from organizations such as the Arts Council of Indianapolis or the Indiana Arts
Commission. Environmental agencies, such as Keep Indianapolis Beautiful and the
Hoosier Environmental Council, could also be potential avenues to explore for
sponsorship and/or funding.
Museum Space to be Used: IMA’s 100 Acres and Ruth Lilly Visitors Pavilion
Involvement of Other Departments: Design/Graphics and Marketing (can help
promote the program and make signage for the collaborative mandala held
temporarily in the Art and Nature Park), Audience Engagement, Education,
Horticulture and Grounds
Involvement of Staff/Volunteers: At least one staff member would need to be
present, but preferably two; one of the staff members or docents should be familiar
with the Art and Nature Park. Volunteers could consist of student volunteers
studying art or museum studies at any of the universities in town and also local
artists/art educators.
Type of Marketing Support Needed: Marketing would occur on the IMA’s website,
particularly the webpage for this program, but posters, fliers, and signage could be
printed to promote the program both inside the museum and within the community
(local organizations and galleries, who are willing). Media advertising, such as
commercials or news ads would be expensive, but a local radio station, such as WFYI
may be willing to make an announcement or interview to promote the program.
Potential Community Partners: Potential community partners would overlap with
some of the above‐mentioned funders/sponsors. However, it could also consist of
environmental organizations such as the Hoosier Environmental Council, and
possibly some local artists who have created public/site‐specific art across
Indianapolis.
Indiana Academic Standards: This program may meet academic standards in
science (nature component), social studies (cultural component), and fine
arts/visual arts (art‐making component).
Learning Summary:

4. Program Objectives/Visitor Experience: The visitors will experience and interact
with the Art and Nature Park by collecting objects from nature, or using items
provided by the IMA, creating a mandala inspired by the materials and/or
contributing to a collaborative mandala. This will allow the visitors to connect to
their natural environment and renew their perception of these objects they are used
to seeing everyday.
Outcome/Goals: Participants will:
• Explore and interact with the Art and Nature Park in new and
engaging ways
• Connect to their natural environment by re‐discovering nature and
collecting natural objects to use in their artwork
• Aim to facilitate dialogue between family members, participants,
and/or staff and volunteers
• Learn and grow by means of social interaction
• Collaborate and create a sense of community
• Learn art vocabulary and how to describe objects effectively
• Expand their knowledge about site‐specific artwork,
environmental/land art and artists, and cultural art forms
(specifically centered around topic of mandalas)
• Inspire and motivate participants to consider new/alternative uses
for nature (such as in the creative process)
• Raise concerns surrounding environmental issues and how art and
nature related pieces could potentially create environmental
awareness
• Have fun!
Learning Activities: Exploration of the park/nature, dialogue/conversations
describing objects (guessing game activity: see additional materials document), art
making process
Materials: provide some collected natural objects (from the Horticulture and
Grounds department), fallen natural objects collected by partcipants, non‐
toxic/environmentally friendly paint (most likely watercolor so it is not as bold and
distracting from the colors of the objects), paintbrushes and water cups, variety of
colored paper, scissors, glue/gluesticks, pencils, smocks, handouts (see additional
materials document): mandala description, examples and templates; art vocabulary
and words to use when describing objects; land/environmental artists and artwork
examples (NOTE: For the larger collaborative mandala, paint and other materials
may not be used. The IMA will only allow the site‐specific artwork to remain on
grounds if it created by materials from the Art and Nature Park).
Procedures/Instructions/Directions: The visitors will collect objects that have
fallen on the ground in the Art and Nature Park, such as twigs, leaves, and rocks,
considering elements such as color and texture. They are also allowed to use natural
objects collected by the IMA’s Horticulture and Grounds department. They will
discuss (whether as a group or within their own families) the color, shape, texture,
and use of these objects, using the form of a guessing game if they would like, to
activate a sense of excitement about the process. Each participant will work on their
own mandala and/or contribute to a collaborative mandala that will remain a part

5. of the Art and Nature Park temporarily (contributes to the concept of community
and social learning).
Script for the program: (See above?) Directions in order: Brief description of
project with handouts and background information; Collect items/Explore the Art
and Nature Park; Return to pavilion with collected items and start
discussing/playing the guessing game using descriptive art vocabulary; Create/Co‐
create a smaller mandala; Contribute to the larger, collaborative site‐specific
mandala; (If time) Discuss nature used in art and how it relates to some of the
artwork done by environmental/land artists and can raise potentially raise
environmental issues
Evaluation: The program will be successful if the participants are having fun, but
learning and discovering in the process, while socially interacting/collaborating. It
will be most successful if each participant is able to create and contribute to the
larger group mandala and able to describe and create dialogue based on their use of
natural objects.
Discussion of Potential Results:
The goal of this program is to encourage the audience to consider an alternative use
for their natural environment and how they can incorporate that in the creative
process. The program also aims to create an understanding of environmental
concerns that can be raised through art and nature related pieces. The value in the
program is learning through means of social collaboration and family learning; this
sort of interaction facilitates dialogue and potential collaboration of ideas. The IMA’s
use of 100 Acres in collaboration with the art museum asks visitors to consider the
relationship between the natural world and contemporary art, and can serve as
multiple entry points for a participant, whether it is art or the landscape and use of
nature that interests them. Some concerns are low attendance and lack of interest or
shyness when facilitating dialogue. The ultimate goal will be to increase attendance
for future Saturday at the Park programs, as well as increase interest and visitation
to the IMA in general (both the parks/grounds and the museum).
**All statements flanked by quotations are taken from the IMA’s website:
www.imamuseum.org