LIS labyrinth becomes central feature at Louisiana Children's Museum

In my studio in Illinois--actually, a pole barn in a farmer's back forty--I'm busy preparing for the installation of the labyrinth at the Louisiana Children's Museum (LCM) in New Orleans. The labyrinth will be a central landscape feature when LCM moves to a new location in New Orleans City Park in mid-2019. The 7-circuit Essence of Chartres labyrinth will bring "a new level of interactive experiences designed to promote early childhood learning through play," says the LCM website. The labyrinth won't be installed until February, but there's lots for Debi and me to do to prepare for a flawless installation before we ever arrive at the work site.  

Precision cuts are the hallmark of our work.

The project began months ago when we received the contract from the museum, but like the labyrinth itself, there's been quite a few twists and turns in the process, such as construction and weather delays. Making labyrinths for more than 20 years has taught us that every labyrinth we create has its own timeline. We have learned to be patient and trust the process--which is a lot like walking a labyrinth, come to think of it. You think you're heading right for the "goal," but the path suddenly changes direction several times; you seem to be going around in circles and doubling back the way you came, but then find yourself walking straight into the center, and every step along the way has led you there. We have learned how to adapt to sudden changes by staying focused on things we can control, such as making precision cuts with my EDCO high-performance diamond masonry saw. Nearly half of the pavers are being hand sculpted to fit the intricate design before they will be shipped to the installation site next month.

The center rosette takes shape.

It takes a lot of teamwork to prepare for a successful labyrinth installation. While I am hard at work in the studio, Debi is very busy handling everything else: staffing our home office (lots of emails and phone calls!), making our travel arrangements, preparing our home for our extended road trip, managing our household, and most importantly, being a great mom for our daughters, Brittany and Chloe, and grandma for our granddaughter, Lily. Plus, she teaches weekly classes and workshops and has a growing clientele for her alternative healing practice. I don't know how she does it all!

Back in the studio, the rosette is finished, but there are still a lot more pavers to sculpt before we load them on the palettes to be shipped to the Louisiana Children's Museum in New Orleans. Meanwhile, several other projects are in the works, and our calendar is quickly filling up with work that will take us all around the country again this year. Watch this space for the latest developments!