Draft:Wat Buddhametta

Wat Buddhametta (วัดพุทธเมตตา) is a Thai Buddhist temple and meditation center located in Tucson, Arizona founded by Ajahn Sarayut Arnanta, the Abbot. The name of the temple, or Wat (วัด), is a portmanteau of Buddha and Metta, a Buddhist term meaning loving-kindness. The temple is also variably known as Wat Buddhametta: The Buddha in the Desert and Wat Buddhametta: Tucson Buddhist Meditation Center.

Community Involvement
Members of the Wat are involved in various community engagements, both at the temple itself and within the broader community.

At the Wat
The temple hosts a variety of events and services in multiple languages to keep its ethnically diverse community engaged and involved.

There are several weekly sessions that are open to all community members including guided meditation (with beginners as the target audience), Buddhist ceremony every Sunday morning, and Sunday evening silent meditation and Dhamma talk. On the third Saturday of most months, the Wat hosts its monthly Community Thai Food Buffet. However, this was suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic and has not yet been resumed.

Celebrations of several holidays are hosted annually and open to the public, such as Songkran, Loy Krathong, and Asalha Puja.

Style and Construction
The Wat is located in the Aldea Linda Residential Historic District.The building was originally designed for artist Gerry Peirce by architect Emerson Scholer in the Spanish Colonial Revival Style, and is the only example of that style in Aldea Linda. The single story building has a rectangular façade with stuccoed masonry walls and parapets, and a burnt adobe dome. Construction was done by Peirce and his students, using adobe made on-site.

Ownership and Usage
Originally built by Gerry Peirce with the assistance of the Tucson Watercolor Guild, it served as the historic Gerry Pierce Watercolor School from 1948 until 1967, when Peirce retired and deeded the building to the Unitarian Church.

A colleague and former student of Peirce, Kay Bonfoey acquired the building from the Unitarian Church in 1969 and opened the Kay Bonfoey Gallery and Studio, which later became the Tucson Art Institute.

In 1998, Marjorie Schaeffer acquired the Art Institute building and established the Arizona Institute of Interior design. The school became the Fleur de Lis Institute of Landscape and Management in 2002 but had its license revoked in 2008.

The property and building were purchased by Dhammaratanaram Temple Inc. on 15 December 2009 and the deed was transferred to Wat Buddhametta Inc. on 18 January 2011.