From August 13th to 18th, 2013

On Saturday August 17th, the former United Nations Ambassador of Iraq, Dr. T. Hamid Al-Bayati, visited the Happiness Lab and gave an inspirational talk about his personal journey and the importance of happiness. 

That same day, Rhoni Blankenhorn also added these great "Get Lost" cards, which encourages people to explore the city by following the random directions written on the back of the card! 

On our final day, Isaac Joseph from The29 held a "Mindful State of Being Workshop" which provided participants with core correctional healing techniques that can be applied to fitness routines as well as everyday life to become more conscious of the physical body and mind relationship.

On Saturday and Sunday, A Festival of Fools by FringeNYC performed in the park. They will perform two shows next weekend as well! 

Below is the final version of the Happiness Network map. Thank you to everyone who took the time to participate! 

We also finished the string installation on the ceiling of the Happiness Lab:

And our friend, Ignacio, added this piece on a section of the wall in the park:

Who caught Pablo Gnecco's performance piece? 

A huge thank you to the Fourth Arts Block and World Policy Institute for giving us this opportunity to showcase our work in a new and innovative manner! Another huge thank you to the people that volunteered and gave up some of their time to the Happiness Lab!

It was such a pleasure to meet everyone passing through and hearing people's happiness stories! Continue to watch the 12x12 space as the artist residency continues at First Park. More information on the next artists can be found at the12x12project.tumblr.com.

David and Jeter, please come by again so that we can thank you in person!!!

Above and below are Eddie's additions to the park.

Meet our Happiness Lab mascot, Gerardo!

We've had everything from amateur ukulele players to professional musicians come visit us! 

Taking advantage of the designated napping area...

And the Happiness Network is growing, as more and more people stop by the space!

Meeting such wonderful people with such diverse stories have definitely been the highlight! Thank you all for coming and sharing your happy places with us!

The Happiness Lab is open for business!

Yesterday, we had our first day at the Happiness Lab. Opening our doors at 12pm, the rain did little to dampen our spirits. Visitors started pouring in after the sunshine came out which gave us some time to finish up painting the bits that we could not finish on Monday. The 12x12 House initially looked like this:

But after two gallons of yellow paint and six pairs of hardworking hands (a very, very special thank you to our volunteers Jordan, Chris, Paige and Sarah), we managed to brighten it up! 

Above is the work in progress on Monday. And below the finished product - Mario is putting up our new banner. 

Not only have we been working on the 12x12 structure, but we have also been revitalising the space beyond the walls. Eddie Odabachian, our string expert, created this beautiful piece that spells out "Make it Happy" on a back wall of the park.

Eddie will continue to add pieces around the park as the residency continues this week. Additionally, the wonderful Catalina Parra has been reinvigorating the park by adding origami flowers and inspirational signs amongst the bushes. 

On top of adding art pieces around the park, we have also been collecting "Happiness Stories" from around the neighbourhood. One of our main projects will be mapping a "Happiness Network" of the area. We have been asking people who have visited the lab for a location of a happy memory within the neighbourhood and then we will go to that location and ask a person there the same question. Once we have enough responses, we will then use the information and map it on a wall within our lab. We should have the map up and running by Friday!

Yesterday, we hosted a few activities within our lab as well. At 5pm, Mario offered free spanish lessons and at 5.30pm, our wonderful volunteer, Sarah, offered a guided meditation session. We then closed up the afternoon at 6pm with a free tea party. 

As you can tell, we have plenty exciting things going on! Please check our schedule on our site (http://happinesslab.tumblr.com/schedule) for upcoming events and if you have any ideas and want to participate, please email [email protected], we are more than happy to bring your ideas to reality! 

Thank you to everyone who has come by already! We've already met some incredible people with great stories!

We'll be around until Sunday (August 18th) and will be at First Park from 12pm-7pm each day! Please stop by and say hello! You can't miss the bright yellow house at the corner of 2nd Avenue and Houston St!