Help Bring the Lotus Arch to Life

In January 2025, I launched The Emotional Shift Project to help people navigate grief, anger, despair, and defeat through YouTube videos featuring somatic exercises and calming mandala visuals. After two months, I recognized that something was off. Beyond struggling with having a consistent style to the videos, I wanted to eventually incorporate projection mapping to move the project out into the world, but I was unsure how. After taking a break from the project in March, I found a solution.

Up until recently, I was doing all of my projection mapping on existing surfaces, mostly walls. The surface tends to dictate the projection, which didn't fit well for how I currently animate the mandalas. My creative coach challenged me to think of surfaces other than walls to practice on. After a bit of experimenting, I came up with an idea: a mandala arch that you can walk through, stand under, and experience up close.

I created two different mockups, one with foamcore and one with matboard, to test mapping on them.

GOAL OF THE PROJECT

There are two goals to the project: creating a reminder that there is still awe, beauty, and magic in the world and giving people space to deepen their connection to their emotions.

Beyond interacting with/viewing the arch, participants will be encouraged to try a somatic exercise to get stored emotions moving through their body. It's not about shifting out of negativity into positivity, but out of negativity into neutrality. It’s not about making the storms go away, but accepting that storms are going to come and having the tools to be ready for them.

CHALLENGES OF THE PROJECT

Scaling up: Moving from small models to a full scale arch is going to be challenging and costly, both with materials and time.

Compensation: The standard way forward would be participating in events, however there are very few evening events in the Twin Cities. Rather than trying to petition existing Minnesota events to pay for the addition of the arch to their event as well as extend the event's hours later into the evening, I thought a good starting point would be to create my own short pop-up events in parks or open areas where the arch could be easily set up.

Travel: If the pop-ups are well received, I'd like to take the arch on the road to other states, potentially working with ticketed events, but also continuing the free pop-events so it's accessible to all. Traveling will require adaptations to my van so I can carry the display on the roof, allowing me the ability to camp inside in order to cut down on travel costs.

WHERE FINANCES WILL GO

Short term: Construction supplies, creation and production of the artwork.

Long term: Time and effort to keep the project going.

This fundraiser will remain up throughout the duration of the project so people can continue to contribute at any time. Your support will help me bring this creative vision out into the world!