Family Sundays

Ages 3 and older with accompanying adults

Family Sundays are in person at the Rubin! Bring your family to the Mandala Lab on the third floor for an afternoon of creativity and self-exploration that both kids and grown-ups will enjoy.

Reservation is required for the 1:00 PM and 2:00 PM time slots. The program is free for your family, and each ticket comes with free access to the Museum galleries. Each month we explore a new theme, with an art-making activity centered around that theme. A Museum educator does a brief demonstration of the project, teaches the art-making techniques, and lets you explore ways to make the project your own.

1:00—2:00 PM: Story Time and Meet the Author of My Diwali Light

In honor of Diwali, join us for a special book reading and signing with children’s book author, Raakhee Mirchandani. Raakhee will delight Family Sunday participants with her newest release, My Diwali Light. This joyful story with vibrant collage illustrations, follows one girl’s Diwali traditions as her family celebrates their favorite holiday with the ones they love

Devi loves the Diwali season. It’s a time to wear her favorite red bindi and eat samosas until she bursts! Make mithai and design rangoli with her Papa. And paint diyas with her nani—a reminder to shine her light brightly all year long..

Story Time will be followed by a guided visit to the first floor of the Museum to learn more about the significance of Ganesha on the holiday of Diwali.

Choose a 1:00 PM Family Sunday ticket to reserve your spot for this book reading in the Mandala Lab.

2:00–3:00 PM: Radiant Rangoli

Celebrate Diwali, the festival of light overcoming darkness, by creating a radiant rangoli design! Traditional rangoli are geometrical or nature-inspired designs created on the ground from natural materials such as sand. What inspiration can you draw from this traditional art form rangoli to design your own geometrical or nature-inspired sand art? How can your rangoli bring brightness to your home and loved ones as the weather turns colder?

About the Author

Raakhee Mirchandani is an award-winning writer and editor and the author of Hair Twins and Super Satya Saves the Day. When she isn’t writing, Raakhee is either organizing her bookshelves, running races to raise money for kids with cancer, or admiring her many Diwali decorations, many of which she leaves up all year round. She lives in Hoboken, New Jersey, with her husband and daughter.

This book reading is presented in partnership with The Culture Tree. The Culture Tree provides South Asian—themed educational and cultural programs that enrich the lives of children and their families and promote a deeper connection with their roots and the world around them.

Mandala Lab and Family Sundays are made possible with lead support from the Milton and Sally Avery Arts Foundation, Barbara Bowman, Fred Eychaner, The Pierre and Tana Matisse Foundation, Rasika and Girish Reddy, Shelley and Donald Rubin, and Tiger Baron Foundation.

Major support is provided by Anonymous, Bob and Lois Baylis, Anne and Albert Chao, Con Edison, Daphne Hoch Cunningham and John Cunningham, Anne E. Delaney, Karen Dorsky, Noah P. Dorsky, the Estate of Lisina M. Hoch, Jack Lampl, The Prospect Hill Foundation, Basha Frost Rubin and Scott Grinsell, the Andrew Sabin Family Foundation, Namita and Arun Saraf, Linda Schejola, Eric and Alexandra Schoenberg, Eileen Caulfield Schwab, Taipei Cultural Center in New York, and New York Life Insurance Company*, and New York Life.

Public funds are provided by New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, and the New York State Council on the Arts with support of the Office of the Governor 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.