Join and reflect with mindful experiences

Art for Wellbeing
Join us for a free, thirty minute mindful-looking exercise that will help you slow down, process emotion, and quiet anxieties. Research shows that close, mindful looking at art can strengthen our ability to process stress. Building resilience is more important than ever in today’s increasingly divisive and troubling world. Participants will be guided through a slow-looking protocol coupled with a mindful breathing exercise. You will have the opportunity to reflect and share or quietly process.

Program is free with registration.

May 26
12:30–1:00 PM
Online

June 23
12:30–1:00 PM
Online

Art of Rest
CMA’s partnership with The Yoga Carriage at replenish returns with a new series of monthly collective community care gatherings.

In this new paradigm, rest is art. It is a protest and it is an awakening of hope for all humans. The CMA and the yoga carriage at replenish welcome you. The Art of Rest incorporates curated mindful and restorative practices to invite in spaciousness and curiosity.
We recommend a yoga mat, blanket and 1 or 2 pillows for added comfort during restorative poses, water bottle, journal, pencil, and dressing in comfortable clothing.

Rest is dynamic. Let’s get activated together.

Program is $20.

Photo credit: Abby Kamagate

June 5
11:00 AM–1:00 PM
In-Person at CMA

Click here to activate rest

Yoga @ CMA
Replenish invites you to enjoy yoga for everyday life. Whether you are a beginner or advanced student this practice will allow you to reset the body, move at a slower pace and experience the practice of relaxation. Program is $10.

June 9
6:00–7:00 PM
In-Person at CMA

Art and Empathy Talks
This award-winning monthly conversation series returns for a new season. Art and Empathy Talks is in partnership with Empathize With Me, an initiative created by storyteller Donte Woods-Spikes to find ourselves within each other through storytelling and documentation. The season’s theme is Building Community Through Art. Each month will feature a new guest creative.

This program is free. Space is limited. Registration is encouraged.

May 21
11:00 AM–12:30 PM
In-Person at CMA

June 30
6:00–7:30 PM
In-Person at CMA

Take a Wellness Break
A guide to support a mindful museum visit

Art and museum experiences can help us slow down, find calm, connect with our interior lives, and transport us to new places. All of this helps promote a sense of well-being.

Here are some principles to guide you through a mindful museum experience:

- Slowing down has value.
- It is enough to be present.
- There is no right and wrong.
- Tune into your breath. Breathe deeply in through your nose and out through your mouth.
- Listen to your body; this experience should be restful and restorative. Sit if you need to. Close your eyes and disconnect if that is what your body wants.
- Look with fresh eyes and be open to wonder and curiosity.

Mindfulness Activities:

Five Senses
Spend a few minutes in the sculpture garden, the atrium, or a gallery, with your eyes closed. What sounds do you notice? What smells? Does the air feel warm or cool, is it still or moving? As best you can, try not to attach judgment to these observations, just practice noticing sensations.

Take a Trip
Find a landscape. Take one silent minute to let your eyes pass over the work of art. Now close your eyes and imagine stepping into the scene. What sounds might you hear? What does the air feel like on your skin?

Find Meaning
Find a work of art that you feel conveys a sense of care. Spend some time with it. Don’t read the label. Consider, what drew you to this work? What about it communicates care to you? When you are ready, look around and find a very different work. How does it connect to care? Try the same with another idea that matters to you, perhaps calm, listening, or compassion.

Visitor with Emerson C. Burkhart, Man is Man (Portrait of Roman Johnson),1946. Oil on canvas.