Lao Buddhist Building
Mediumphotographs
ClassificationsGraphics
Credit LineConnecticut Cultural Heritage Arts Program collections
DescriptionPhotograph of a Lao Buddhist building. Location and date of photo unknown; possibly a building and decorations in St. Petersburg FL where Khoutavong, the resident monk at the Lao temple in Morris CT, worked for a time.
Object number2015.196.635.1
CopyrightIn Copyright
NotesBiographical Note: Khoutavong Yongchaiyuth, traditional Lao ceremonial woodcarver, serves as the resident monk of the Wat Lao Ariyamettaram Lao temple in Morris, rural northwestern Connecticut, having moved there from the temple in Danbury. Khout has been a monk since he was fourteen years old, and in the temple in Laos he learned woodcarving, sculpture, stonemasonry, and painting. He was brought to the US in 1999 by the resident monk in Danbury to build decorative stone and woodwork, and he practices the same traditional crafts at the temple in Morris where he serves the spiritual needs of the Lao community. Khout was also invited to St. Petersburg, Florida to build a temple and carve several sculptures, which took him only a month. He has passed on his knowledge to other Lao Americans, teaching the young monks from the large Lao community in western Rhode Island, in Year 18 (2015-2016) of the Southern New England Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Program. As part of the Southern New England Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Program Year 18 (2015-2016), Khout was a mentor to two monks, Xaiyo and Somchay, from the Smithfield RI Lao temple who learning to build, restore, and decorate Lao spiritual statues and buildings. Over an intensive few weeks, the young monks from RI gained skills of designing, molding, casting, cutting, and applying that helped them to revitalize the older structures at their temple. This apprenticeship was coordinated by Silaphone Nhongvongsouthy, a cultural leader in the Lao community in Rhode Island. She facilitated the public presentation of the group’s learning at Lao Buddha Ariyamettaram Temple in Morris CT
Cataloging Note: This project was made possible in part by the Institute of Museum and Library Services MA-245929-OMS-20.
On View
Not on view
Khoutavong Yongchaiyuth
2010 April 18
2016 July 22
