Losar Family Day 2024

Swoop into the Year of the Wood Dragon with your family and friends! Celebrate Losar, the Tibetan New Year, with an afternoon of art. Learn about traditional Losar celebrations and this year’s zodiac animal, the powerful and determined Wood Dragon. Then explore the galleries, watch a traditional torma butter sculpture demonstration, and let your creativity go wild!

Create

• Create a colorful design inspired by Himalayan butter sculptures
• Mark the Year of the Wood Dragon by crafting this year’s zodiac animal
• Shed the obstacles and regrets from the past year in an activity to inspire cleansing and renewal
• Design prayer flags with your personal intentions and prayers for the New Year

Watch

• Watch an expert torma maker create beautiful butter sculptures. Made from flour and butter, these intricate, colorful ritual offerings are displayed in Tibetan Buddhist shrines 15 days after Losar during Chunga Choepa, the Butter Lamp Festival.

Stay tuned for more exciting additions to our Losar celebration lineup.

Image credit: Filip Wolak, 2023

The Mandala Lab multiyear initiative, which includes the annual Losar Day Celebration, is made possible with lead support from the Milton and Sally Avery Arts Foundation, Barbara Bowman, Fred Eychaner, Noah P. Dorsky, Agnes Gund, The Robert H.N. Ho Family Foundation Global, the Estate of Lisina M. Hoch, The Pierre and Tana Matisse Foundation, Rasika and Girish Reddy, Shelley and Donald Rubin, and Tiger Baron Foundation.

Major support is provided by Bob and Lois Baylis, Sara and Joseph Bedrick, Anne and Albert Chao, Con Edison, Daphne Hoch Cunningham and John Cunningham, Anne E. Delaney, DeWitt Stern, Karen Dorsky, Chris K. Jones, Think Strong Scholarships, Jack Lampl, Max Meehan, Dan Gimbel of NEPC, LLC, The Prospect Hill Foundation, Sarah and Craig Richardson, Basha Frost Rubin and Scott Grinsell, the Andrew Sabin Family Foundation, Namita and Arun Saraf, Linda Schejola, Eric and Alexandra Schoenberg, Eileen Caulfield Schwab, Tsherin Sherpa, Jesse Smith and Annice Kenan, Taipei Cultural Center in New York, and New York Life Insurance Company*, and New York Life.

This program is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, in partnership with the City Council.

The Rubin Museum’s programs are made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of Governor Kathy Hochul and the New York State Legislature.

This project is supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts.

We additionally thank the generosity of 223 sponsors and donors who contributed to our 2020 gala, Inside the Mandala: A Virtual Gala.

*“NEW YORK LIFE” and the NEW YORK LIFE Box Logo are trademarks of New York Life Insurance Company. Other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.