The Godwin-Ternbach Museum is part of the Kupferberg Center for the Visual and Performing Arts, located on the Flushing campus of Queens College, City University of New York, and has a collection of over 6,000 objects from antiquity to the present representing art and artifacts in all media from all periods and cultures, Western and non-Western. Works from the major areas of Painting, Sculpture and Decorative Arts, Prints and Drawings, and Ethnographic Arts are offered there in chronological order, from ancient to modern times. http://gtmuseum.org
The Museum organizes various events such as poetry reading, exhibitions of art, workshops, symposiums, independent film screenings. On Wednesday, May 1, 2019, they invited Ananda Marga to lead a class with the title Art Meditation and Yoga. Dada Diiptimanananda led the class with participation and help from Dada Abhiramanandaji, and Brother Naveen Joshi. The theme of the exhibition that is currently in the museum is “Hope is the Thing with Feathers – Art of the Natural World.” The exhibition is a beautiful collection of artwork from ancient times (the oldest one from around 2500 B.C.) to modern times drawing attention to the human relationship with nature – how the artists experienced nature and represented in their art. The class utilized the theme to highlight how we connect with nature, and how we connect with ourselves, and how that inner connection can help us expand our love towards all beings. Dada Diiptimanananda sang “I Love this Tiny Green Island” explaining the inner meaning and then connecting that with the mantra BABA NAM KEVALAM followed by meditation. The students also had time to walk around the room, experience the exhibition, and afterward contemplate on how the artist has represented nature in the art.
After the meditation, the students and staff experienced yoga postures that were inspired by nature and animals such as the cobra pose and hare pose. The class ended with sharing and a short meditation. The museum is open to students of Queens College and the public.
