DOYLESTOWN, Pa. (AP) - The group had come to the Doylestown museum for a program that uses meditation to deepen the appreciation of art.

But Maria Starr wasnt expecting the objet du contemplation to be a coffee table.

Yet there it was at the James A. Michener Art Museum: a tree trunk transformed by the famed George Nakashima Studio. Would deep breaths and a dose of mindfulness help illuminate the artistry in a walnut table as it had for a landscape painting?

Starr and 11 other museumgoers sat down around the table and closed their eyes.

Such hour-long sessions are the essence of My OMEI: Observe Meditate Experience Internalize, the Micheners twice-a-month program that enlists visitors to slow down and devote 60 contemplative minutes to one work of art.

Typically a (museum visitor) spends less than 60 seconds in front of an art object. They feel like theyve paid their admission and want to make the most of it, said Sumreen Chaudhry of Philadelphia, a Temple University doctoral student who developed the program.

The object of My OMEI is to foster a personal experience with the object, forming a link between observer and work that lasts more than a minute and results in a deeper understanding of the art - and maybe even of the visitors themselves.

My OMEI, offered on the first and third Sunday of each month (with the exception of Easter), focuses on a new work each time. Featured artists have included John F. Folinsbee and Diane Burko.

Participants look at an artwork quietly for five minutes, then close their eyes and meditate for two minutes. Another time of quiet observance follows, eventually leading to group discussion.

During a session March 15, docent Steve Wisniewski instructed the visitors to touch as well as observe. Members of the group ran their fingers along the tables jagged edge and smooth surface.

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At Michener Museum, seeing deeply into a work of art