SARASOTA COUNTY, Fla. (SNN) — Art and meditation are intertwined at the new Sarasota Meditation Center.
Art Avenue at the Siesta Key Mall created the Sarasota Meditation Center in an effort to combine art and meditation to create a more enriching and creative community.
The grand opening of the new center is on Sunday.
“Attain the opportunity to live with authenticity and courage, to be who we want to be and then to make a better world,” said owner of Art Avenue Paul Sykes.
After over 45 years of admiring Buddhist art, Art Avenue of Sarasota owner, Paul Sykes, decided it was finally time to incorporate it at the gallery.
“If you look at the beautiful temples, they have beautiful bright colors, beautiful flags and beautiful shrines. And so to me, this is an art form. I thought this would be a wonderful thing to create the very first Sarasota meditation and arts center right here at Art Avenue Galleries,” said Sykes.
One artist says it wasn’t until a year ago that she did some soul searching, using art and meditation to find her reason for being.
“Believe it or not, art and meditation, they really go hand in hand. I realized I can be an artist and then what is my purpose? And so I’m searching until deep diving into Buddhism practice and meditation, and then now I found my purpose,” said artist Li Jian.
The sessions, free of cost, will be on the second Sunday of every month and are open to anyone, whether you’ve meditated before or not… And members of any religion are welcome.
“If you want to come and do Hinduism, Jewish, Christian, Baptist, whatever type of feeling you have to bring to this gallery,” said Sykes. “What it’s all about is gathering people in a community of sharing hope and joy.”
If you’ve never meditated before, he says it’s all about focusing on your breathing and calming yourself down, but that there are endless ways to meditate.
“As we all say, ‘I have very busy schedule, I’m busy with this and that.’ They are walking around without even think, and then they react. Meditation can help you, or everyone need it, that space between your mind and your heart and the reality,” said Jian.
Art Avenue will be forming a nonprofit in the future where you can donate to the meditation center if you’d like.