During a residency at the library, Tibetan Buddhist Drepung Loseling Monks create a mandala sand painting meant to heal the surrounding area. The monks have performed this ancient ritual in Steamboat Springs twice previously, but it has been seven years since the last iteration. 

This year, the monks create an Akshobhya Mandala, meant to manifest harmony and healing. The ceremony begins with a blessing, followed by creation of a chalk outline, after which the monks meticulously fill in their tracings with colorful grains of sand using a traditional chakpur funnel. At the ceremony’s end, the monks sweep up the mandala and cast it into the Yampa River. This is an act meant to signify both life’s impermanence and a blessing for the rest of the world.