About Mindful Art Encounters
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ME*art is a program of the non-profit organization Mindful Art Encounters (MAE). Through systematically guided perception practices and meditative experiences, ME*art opens an interdisciplinary space for aesthetic and self-reflective moments. Our participatory program brings together certified Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) teachers, art educators, and museum visitors to activate resources, share knowledge, and create connections. By integrating mindfulness practice into art education, MAE enriches the spectrum of museum outreach formats and creates new pathways to art.
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MAE works with certified mindfulness teachers who are trained in the MBSR method and are members of the Mindfulness Swiss association. Developed in the 80’s at the University of Massachusetts School of Medicine by John Kabat-Zinn, this method has been used in treating stress-related diseases, such as heart attack, depression and burnout. Inspired by artworks, artists' biographies, or the impact of spaces, they explore aspects such as body awareness, breathing, resilience, curiosity in discovery, concentration, connection, stress resistance, movement, or mindful communication. Since the 1980s, Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction therapies have been used for treatment, prevention, and learning self-care for various conditions.
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ME*Art offers an alternative approach to art that focuses on the individual experience of viewers rather than conveying information. We wish to support museums in intentionally connecting with people in their communities and creating new spaces for encounter.
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download our brochure.
Meet the mindfulness teachers.
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Bruno Amrein
"Mindfulness has the wonderful power to make every moment special.
And it grounds me like an anchor on the inner ground, where peace and joy of life are at home."
Bruno Amrein is a certified MBSR teacher, mindfulness-based coach and journalist.
www.mbsr-baden.ch
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Erica Fankhauser
"Out of necessity, after a burnout, I first got in touch with mindfulness in 2012. It touched my heart and since then I have never let it go.
I am a heart person on a journey of discovery with big dreams. I love mindfulness and its resulting transformation. I love BEING. I love to flourish.
I am a creative nature lover and a passionate painter. I follow my heart. My values, besides mindfulness, are authenticity, creativity and spirituality and I'm just discovering what's left of me when I let it all go."
Erica Fankhauser is a lecturer in mindfulness in continuing education at various colleges of education and a specialist in mindfulness with children and adolescents. In addition to her work as an MBSR teacher, she is also a consciousness coach, mediumship and trance healing therapist, meditation teacher, and yoga teacher.
www.erica-fankhauser.ch
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Tanja Joho
“Since 2015 I have dedicated myself to the Buddhist practice of Vipassana meditation, which is anchored in the Theravada tradition. Regular multi-day retreats in silence and contemplation support me greatly in the process of self-awareness and insight.
Mindfulness practice supports me in everyday life, among other things as a young mother, to become aware of my habits and patterns again and again, which allows me to create more space for wise action.
Developing self-care and self-compassion is a concern of mine, cultivating connectedness and friendship with oneself. I find it very liberating to become aware of my own demands, to be less strict with myself and thereby bring more lightness into my life. At the same time, these qualities have a direct effect on the inner relationship with fellow human beings.”
Tanja Joho is a certified MBSR teacher and ergotherapist.
www.tanjajoho.com
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Regine Meier
“Mindfulness is something marvelous and extraordinary for me and a great help and joy in my everyday life. The following quote from Edel Maex, a mindfulness trainer and psychiatrist from Holland, speaks to my heart. It describes the gentleness that has come into my life through mindfulness:
`Mindfulness is simple: to be present in reality as it is now. Without adding anything, without looking for anything beyond that. Only this and abundant kindness. It's as simple as that, it's almost scandalous. An inexhaustible simplicity! The only sensible answer is a smile.’”
Certified MBSR and MBCT teacher (IAS) Regine Meier works as an Art and Expression Educator (ISIS) and nurse in a psychiatric day clinic.
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Andrea Mock
“Two threads run through my biography: The joy I find expressing my creativity within different artistic mediums and my spiritual path in Buddhism. Supporting others in their development in these fields gives me a sense of purpose and gratitude.
Mindfulness has become an indispensable source of energy in my life. It makes me feel connected, alive, and peaceful.
It guides me again and again to the opening of my heart and mind.”
Andrea Mock is a certified MBSR teacher and art therapist.
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Isolde Reber
“My roles as a certified MBSR teacher and nurse (HF) give me great joy to experience and discover together with others what is possible through mindfulness. It fills me with deep sense of gratitude for this inner source of energy that is available to us at all times.
In the conscious perception of the moment-to-moment experience with all senses, I experience a deep appreciation, contentment, strength and clarity that fulfills me in all aspects of my life and supports me in my artistic work.
Mindfulness brings me in touch with and nourishes in me a compassionate and open-hearted existence.”
Our Board of Directors.
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Ursula Frischknecht Tobler
«Being awake to the richness of the present offers each of us new and often quite unexpected possibilities worth discovering and nourish our spirit of exploration.»
Ursula Frischknecht-Tobler was a lecturer for “Mensch-Natur-Gesellschaft” at the College of Education in St. Gallen (Pädagoische Hochschule). In active retirement, she is President of Mindfulness.Swiss (until 2022). She promotes projects such as Mindful Art Encounters and offers courses and workshops on mindfulness and compassion for individuals, schools and organizations in Eastern Switzerland.
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Cosima Rahmann
“Some works of art have been my companions for many years now: when I envision them in my mind’s eye, I relive the joy of discovery, the feeling of inner peace, the impulse to perceive my body or to appreciate everyday trifles and certain moments. I feel alive.”
President of the Board and Founder of Mindful Art Encounters, Cosima Rahmann consults and supports artists and estate managers as a mediator in conflict situations and estate planning.
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Florian Rahmann
"Mindful presence is the key to connecting with everything that is relevant to us. We can experience this either with our eyes open, like a work of art in a museum or our counterpart at lunch, or with our eyes closed, when we connect with things we can't see. Through mindful presence, I experience the world more consciously and fully in its wonderful diversity."
Florian Rahmann is a partner at the asset manager "Survista Financial Advisors", a coach for dogs and humans and an animal communicator.
Testimonial
“For some years now, the term ‘mindfulness’ has been very popular and a veritable movement has emerged in a wide variety of areas such as pedagogy or psychology. Unfortunately, this movement is not an expression of increasing mindfulness, but of a more widespread carelessness in our society. We are becoming more and more careless when it comes to sensory overload and acceleration. This makes projects such as the Mindful Art Encounters Art programs all the more important, because this is where real mindfulness takes place. Without having to register for a mindfulness course, but in a place where we encounter art. If we receive help to become present mindfully, we are of course touched by art in a different way than by a pure observation from our everyday consciousness. As a result, we are touched more intensely by art and at the same time make an experience of how relaxing and touching mindfulness can be. Therefore, I am very happy that this project exists and would wish many museum visitors to be able to experience the guidance to pause, to watch and to accept.”
– Andreas Knuf is psychological psychotherapist, supervisor and mindfulness teacher. He is author of numerous publications on various topics and mindfulness and bestselling author of "Ruhe da oben".
THANK YOU!
We thank you, dear readers, for your time and willingness to familiarize yourself with our project!! Ursula Frischknecht, President Mindfulness.Swiss, and the members of the Mindfulness Swiss core team Isolde Reber, Andrea Mock, Regine Meier for their dedication and passion. Sara Smidt, Head of Art Education Kirchner Museum Davos, and Silja Burch, Head of Art Education Aargauer Kunsthaus, for their support and their great commitment. Psychologist and author Andreas Knuf for his wonderful testimonial. Erica Benz-Steffen, former Head of Literature Promotion Pro Helvetia, Pascha Azure, Kristian Bader, Petra Göhrum, Christy Miller and Tomas Rodak for their valuable feedback and friendship.