Story By: Will Locascio, Art and Entertainment Editor
Photos Provided By: Lynnea Tai, Darc Moon artist and creator
Lynnea Tai is the artist behind Darc Moon’s enriching presence in the Grand Valley art scene
Grand Junction has historically been a reclusive scene of inspiration for artists and performers. The Grand Valley’s tight knit and appreciative community offers the perfect landscape for artists to build their brand and spread word of their inspirations. A shining example of the community appreciation for local, handmade art was orchestrated on April 8, 2023, courtesy of local artist Lynnea Tai of Darc Moon Mala Beads with her Grand Valley Art Drop Event.
Tai is an artist first and foremost, but spirituality and meditation are the driving forces behind her inspiration to create and spread her ideas to the community. As for how a local artist from Denver, Colorado became interested in handcrafted mala beads, Tai said,
“I studied fashion and apparel marketing at CSU, and I ended up not doing what I thought I wanted to do with my degree. I backpacked Europe and Asia with all the money I saved and that’s where I was introduced to mala beads.”
Aside from the visually and artistically pleasing aesthetic that the mala beads provide, they also offer a deep spiritual component. Tai said, “They are used as a tool for meditation. The word mala breaks down in Sanskrit to ‘A Meditation Garland.’ I was exposed to a lot of Hinduism and Buddhism in Asia, then when I came back I found a mala making class and everything kind of came together.”
Tai described some of the aspects of the beads that provided her with such interest in pursuing the art form as her career, including the numeric symmetry that each mala is built with, (each necklace has exactly 100 beads with knots between each one, a significant spiritual number in many Eastern philosophies) as well as each necklace using a variety of different gemstones, something Tai described as a, “creative introspection tool.”
Tai has been creating mala bracelets as the face of Darc Moon jewelry for nearly 11 years now. One of her most acclaimed events is the Grand Valley Art Drop, which she began in Denver six years ago and re-established in the Grand Valley when she moved to the area a year later. For this event, Tai collaborates with dozens of other local artists and jewelry makers to put on a five-location scavenger hunt that spans across Fruita, Grand Junction, and Palisade. The art drop event has increased massively in popularity over the years, as Tai stated,
“It started off as me just doing a jewelry drop and sort of evolved into an art drop as I started getting more people involved on it. (Last year’s) there were probably a couple hundred people around town looking for them and it got to be a pretty brutal competition to get the bag.”
Ahead of this year’s art drop, Tai said she’s evolved the clues and the drop locations to account for a more hungry field of scavengers. Her art drop popularity has grown so much since its origins that each box of this year’s scavenger hunt contained over $200 worth of art from Grand Junction local artists and Tai herself.
The location of the third box of local art was Garvey’s Gardens, a new flower shop just off of Main St. in Grand Junction. The clues for this box included, “I am located where you can get free smells in Grand Junction,” and “What we have to offer rotates seasonally.” It took residents of Grand Junction about an hour after the clues were posted to decipher them and narrow the search down to Garvey’s Gardens. The lucky winner of this art drop box described the tale of her fevered search saying,
“I went to all of the ‘scent’ places around… I even tried Triple Play but I went in there and (they) didn’t have a clue. Then it dawned on me, because I’ve been to (Garvey’s Gardens) before and they’re off the beaten path. I think I was more excited that they got to be one of the places for this. I’ve been out here all morning.”
The art drop clues were broad and challenged Grand Valley locals’ knowledge of both new and old businesses as well as the geography around them. However, by the end of the day all five of the art drop boxes had been uncovered to similar reactions of excitement as the Garvey’s Gardens art drop winner.
Darc Moon has an online store to purchase Tai’s handmade mala beads as well as kits to create your own beads. Tai has more events planned for the upcoming months including a Mala Meditation and Sound Healing in Fruita on April 15th, a mother’s day mala bracelet event at Blaine’s Farm on May 14th, as well as Malas and Yoga on the Monument on May 7th.
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