Take a deep breath in … and out. Sculpture takes on new meaning by moonlight at Calder Gardens, as it hosts a Moon Alignment Series.
The project is all about meditation and reflecting on our place in the world. The bi-monthly series invites curious minds to Calder Gardens, after hours, for contemplative sessions synced with the new moon (when the moon is between earth and the sun, and the moon appears in shadow) and the full moon (when the earth is between the sun and moon, and the moon is fully illuminated).
“We want people to know that [sculptor Alexander] Calder himself was really interested in observing the world around him,” said Juana Berrío, senior director of programs at Calder Gardens. “He wants people to also get curious about what’s around us — to really slow down, to pay attention to all the different things that are constantly changing and moving.”
In many ways, a moon alignment session goes hand-in-hand with the ideas and intentions behind the work of Calder, who died in 1976. The artist was deeply interested in the notion of time. Sculptures are usually static, but his hanging mobiles can move and make viewers aware of the passing seconds.
“What he’s asking us to do is to notice that things are not fixed,” Berrío said. “Things are constantly changing. And that doesn’t mean just these objects — not only our works — but ourselves within us, there’s constant change. The light changes.”
The curators hope the series provides a sense of scale and proportion.
“That’s why we are mentioning the moon and the sun,” Berrío added. “Because there are other elements that are constantly moving around us and have been moving for millions and millions of years and shape and influence the way we experience the world.”
What even is a moon alignment session?
You don’t have to be into zodiac signs or Tarot cards to get into a moon alignment meditation.
Part of the goal of the practice is to connect participants back to nature’s rhythms. After all, living in a city made of steel and concrete, Philadelphians can sometimes find themselves cut off from the natural world.
Coming together during the moon’s alignment with the sun and earth might feel a little woo-woo. It can also be restorative and symbolic. Thinking about our planet’s natural rhythms gives participants a moment to slow down. Setting goals and intentions to the natural movement of the earth, instead of what can be the stressful tick-tick-tick of a clock, can be a healthy change of pace.
A study led by researchers at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine involving more than 3,500 participants found that mindfulness meditation programs can result in noticeable reductions in anxiety, depression and also lowered pain. In other words, practices like the one at Calder Gardens can measurably improve one’s stress levels and well-being.
Isha Strasser, Calder Gardens contemplative arts fellow, leads the museum series.
“She is really interested in presenting this idea of alignment, looking into the sky, right? The alignment that occurs with the sun and the moon,” Berrío said. “The offering is very simple but very rich at the same time. We’re inviting people to come and join us first for a discussion with Isha. It’s a discussion to just first check in with yourself, to welcome everyone to a space to introduce this idea of alignment.”
Embracing stillness
The Moon Alignment Series isn’t Calder Gardens’ only meditative offering. Of course, there’s the actual Calder artwork.
“I enjoyed sitting for 15 or 20 minutes observing just one mobile and letting my mind wander,” one visitor wrote of their experience, per the museum’s Instagram.
The museum also offers group meditation walks — led by the museum’s official “walk companions.”
“Walk companions walk you through this space with not only knowledge about their works, but also with several questions for people to actually have a time for themselves to reflect on,” Berrío said. “What is it that they’re looking at? What is it that they’re feeling their bodies? What is it that they’re noticing as they walk through the space?”
Berrío hopes that recurring programming like the Moon Alignment Series will draw the community to invest its time in the museum on a regular basis. It’s easy to get sucked into routine. However, when our daily cycles often revolve around calendar alerts or repeatedly returning to a rhythmic TikTok scroll, the series at Calder Gardens may just be the reset you’re looking for.
“There’s so many reasons why a practice like this one, and a space like this one, is much better for all of us,” Berrío said. “We are scrolling so much information in front of our eyes constantly that we cannot even grasp one single thing and really sit with that for minutes. I’m talking about how our attention span has reduced to just a few seconds.”
Berrío said that coming out to a shared space, sitting together with a group of strangers in silence, and embracing stillness can let visitors take back control.
“It’s an invitation for us to gain some order — some agency, some sense of empowerment that we still can determine how we want to live,” she said. “How we’re noticing our bodies, how we’re bringing our minds where our bodies are — that’s something we don’t do often.”
“We need to connect to our mind, our bodies, our spirits, in a completely different way,” she added. “And the main thing is to remind people that we already have that toolkit within us.”
The next moon alignment gatherings will take place on Sunday, Feb. 1 (full moon), Thursday, Feb. 19 (new moon), and Monday, March 2 (full moon), each from 5 to 6:30 p.m. Tickets are $15 for non-members and $10 for members. More Calder Gardens programming can be found here.
