This week, KLRU Collective presents an artistic spiritual meditation. Compassion and wisdom are spread as a group of Tibetan Buddhist monks from the Drepung Loseling Monastery constructed a sand mandala at the Blanton Museum of Art.

The Sand Mandala is a Tibetan Buddhist tradition involving the creation and destruction of mandalas made from colored sand.  Each step in its creation and destruction are accompanied by rituals, ceremonies and chanting symbolizing the Buddhist philosophy in the transitory nature of material life. During January 9-13, 2013, the monks constructed a sand mandala in the Blanton’s Rapoport Atrium. The monks believe it takes divine understanding to make art which is really powerful.

The piece that will air tonight is a profile of a public art project at the University of Texas called Landmarks. KLRU staff was already well acquainted with one of these installations because it’s located outside of our building. Even though we see Peter Reginato’s Kingfish everyday we didn’t know it is part of twenty-eight modern and contemporary sculptures on long-term loan from the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.  Now we look forward to visiting all the sculptures and checking out the new acquisitions the program is making.

The most memorable shoot was for a piece that will air the last night of the festival. We profiled Forklift Danceworks “The Trash Project” on the last night of their performance which happened to be on one of the hottest days of the year. To make it even tougher the performance was located at the old airport…meaning limited shade and endless tarmac. But these imperfect weather conditions didn’t keep thousands of Austinites from coming to enjoy an amazing tribute to our city’s Solid Waste Services department. The experience and dance was definitely a highlight for me on this project.

The pieces airing during the festival have been produced by myself and Eve Tarlo with help from lots of KLRU staff. We’ve enjoyed sharing our viewpoint on Austin’s art scene this past year and we look forward to another great year of KLRU Collective.

-Sara Robertson

Sara Robertson is the Director of On-Air Marketing at KLRU. She has worked in television her whole career and feels lucky to work for Austin’s PBS station. In her spare time she enjoys coaching a women only swim program, reading and being crafty.

From the beloved classics to the edgy-cool things that are beyond description, KLRU Collective is all about the arts. Our goal is to present some of the unique, interesting and creative things taking place in Austin. We will never be able to showcase all of them as this is one of the most creativity rich communities in the world. But we will give you a glimpse – a quick peek – at what is being envisioned here. Visit the site at klru.org/collective

From April 1 to May 1, 16 pianos will hit the streets of Austin as part of Art Week Austin hosted by Art Alliance Austin. Located throughout downtown in public parks, streets and squares, the pianos are for any member of the public to play. The pianos are also for the public to decorate and personalize.
Get a map to all the piano locations here.

To check out all the KLRU Collective videos please visit the website klru.org/collective/.

From the beloved classics to the edgy-cool things that are beyond description, KLRU Collective is all about the arts.

From the beloved classics to the edgy-cool things that are beyond description, KLRU Collective is all about the arts. Our goal is to present some of the unique, interesting and creative things taking place in Austin. We will never be able to showcase all of them as this is one of the most creativity rich communities in the world. But we will give you a glimpse – a quick peek – at what is being envisioned here. We’ll also throw in a few episodes of Masterpiece Theater and Great Performances because, well, we’re PBS. Visit the site at klru.org/collective