SPRING NEWSLETTER #53 April 2024
PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE
It’s hard to believe that spring is already well under way and that the Sakura blossoms have begun to fall. The VIA has been busy since the new year, starting with a workshop series in partnership with the Richmond Arts Centre. Thank you to Cecily, Romy, Yoko and Joan for conducting workshops. Your dedication continues to educate and inspire those within the community about the intricate art of ikebana.
Speaking of workshops, we just wrapped up three sold out classes at VanDusen Gardens in conjunction with the Sakura Days Festival. Our instructors were met by enthusiastic participants, some of whom have been encouraged to consider ongoing lessons. The weather for the festival itself couldn’t have been more ideal, with the warm sunshine being offset by a gentle breeze. Yoko’s entryway arrangement in the main foyer led festival goers with anticipation to the 18 striking ikebana displays in the Discovery Room. Thank you to all who displayed and also those who volunteered over the course of the weekend.
Upcoming, we have the Burnaby Blooms festival at the Shadbolt Centre on May 5. Mina, Taz, Cecily and Joan will be displaying ikebana while creating them in front of any passersby at this fun, family oriented event. It will be wonderful to have three schools represented at Burnaby Blooms this year. Cecily and Joan will also be talking about ikebana and doing a demonstration in the Learning Tent at 2:00 to 3:00. Please consider attending to support your fellow VIA members and to take in the festivities!
Following Burnaby Blooms, is of course, our annual Spring Show. On May 25 & 26 we will be back at The Roundhouse in Yaletown. We were delighted with the clean, gallery-like setting that this venue provided and we are eagerly anticipating our upcoming show in the next several weeks. Due to the success of our previous year’s workshops, we will be conducting another series of classes. These workshops have already over half sold in only a week, so if you have friends who are interested in participating, please ask them to register ASAP!
As a reminder, late membership fees have now increased to $30. You must be a member in good standing in order to display in any VIA event, so please submit your fee to rose_scott@telus.net if you haven’t done so already. Please let your head of school know if you would like to display at the Spring Show no later than April 30.
Thanks to all of you who have been in touch and volunteered your time thus far. I hope to hear from even more of you as further events and opportunities unfold throughout the year.
Sincerely,
Kimberly Cooke, VIA President
PS. We are still in need of a Treasurer. If you are interested in this position, I am strongly appealing that you please put your name forward.
Sakura Days Japan Fair
Progress
I see why gardeners flock to ikebana. Unlike cultivating a garden, ikebana can yield immediate results, but its rewards grow richer and more fulfilling with each passing season, just like a garden that— with patience and tending— can flourish and evolve over time.
I can still remember how exciting (and nerve wracking!) it was to show work for the first time at the Sakura Days festival at VanDusen Garden two years ago. And since then, it feels like public interest in ikebana, the beauty of nature and its aesthetics has only been growing, especially amongst younger people.
The festival at VanDusen this year seemed just as packed as that first time, all weekend, with crowds of people taking over the lawns and pathways, moving through the exhibition hall in clusters that ebbed and flowed throughout both days.
This year was made extra special in two ways. The first being that all three workshops from different ikebana schools sold out very quickly! And clearly, the workshops left attendees inspired: at multiple points, workshop-goers filtered through the ikebana exhibition with their own pieces in hand; they came to admire the displays and see future potential from their very first step.
The second reason, more personal: my classmate and I had the privilege to attend ikekomi alongside two students from our school who showed for the very first time this weekend. My classmate Lisa and I relished the feeling in the car ride back from ikekomi on Friday night. We couldn’t help but see ourselves reflected in our peers; the excitement and the nerves, the pruning and adjusting ‘til the bitter end!
We live in very fast paced times— so fast that workshops can be seen online and sell out in hours! But ikebana is something that invites us to move slowly and stay curious. Progress happens gradually and you simply have to trust that it’s happening on its own schedule— not too unlike nature itself.
There is nothing like showing your ikebana for the first time. But there’s also nothing like seeing how your own work, much like a beautiful garden, can flourish and evolve over time.
Emily Matick, Sangetsu
Treasurer and Membership Report
The Vancouver Ikebana Association has been very fortunate to have had support from its members and the public. I am happy to report that the workshops are very well attended. The association is financially viable for the coming year, once again. As of March 29 there are 67 paid members.
Kado Sumi 4
Ikenobo 29
Ohara 1
Sangetsu 14
Sogetsu 19
Honorary members 3
Total 70
Rose Scott
Library Report
Our library books are available to all members of the VIA. There are ikebana books from the main schools as well as books with arrangements from several schools, combined. We have been offered a donation of two boxes of ikebana books from our member Tekla Fulton. Many thanks, Tekla! They will be in circulation by the next meeting in June. I have been bringing a selection of books to each meeting to be taken out. Or an appointment may be made with Joan to see what is available. Email: joanfairs@gmail.com or cell: 604-813-8054.
Joan Fairs
AGM January 27th, 2024
Our Annual General Meeting took place in the amenity room of the McGregor House in the McGregor Townhouse complex in South Burnaby. Fourteen members attended. For an AGM, the number is low. Please make an effort to be a part of the Vancouver Ikebana Association community in the future! It is only once a year!
Joan made a New Year’s arrangement displayed in the entrance hall. A luncheon was catered by Tentatsu Japanese Restaurant in Burnaby. There was so much delicious food, that most took home a “doggy bag” to enjoy later.
Workshops!
The Japanese consulate requested our collaboration in presenting “A Touch of Japan” with ikebana workshops given to elementary school children this past fall. Fortunately, an increase in the budget was approved, so that we had a bit more leeway in our spending. Cecily of Ikenobo taught a class in November to 25 kids in grade 5, in Vancouver. Joan of Sangetsu had a grade 5/6 class of 23 students in Richmond in mid-December. They made Christmassy looking arrangements, and were very pleased with their results!
On February 4th, at the Hamilton Community Centre in Richmond, Joan held a workshop for 14 people. One lady came all the way from Bellingham to attend!
Although not affiliated with the VIA, there was a Sangetsu workshop on February 10th for Valentine’s at the Burnaby Village Museum. Joan taught it as well as one at the Tommy Douglas library in Burnaby on March 22nd. Kimberly also held a private bridal shower workshop in a home in Burnaby in March.
Workshops at the Richmond Arts Centre
After filling out much paperwork and getting a police record check, we were allowed to give workshops at the Richmond Arts Centre.
There were 16 attendees for the Sogetsu workshop headed by Romy early in the year. Participants were given an overview of the arrangement and instructions on the position of the main stems and subordinate stems before the demonstration. The workshop lasted 1 ½ hour and participants had the opportunity to take photos of their creations.
Yoko, also from Sogetsu, headed the second workshop, in February for 12 registrants. The workshop was a success with some challenges for the participants. They made Nageire arrangements with tsubo containers. They did really well!!
Cecily of Ikenobo taught the third workshop of the year. After giving two workshops at the Richmond Arts Centre in November 2023, she noticed that there are still many interested in learning ikebana.
On Feb. 24th, she conducted another Ikenobo lesson at the RAC. This time the classroom was more organized than before, and there was even a place for photo-taking after corrections! She was able to cope with a class of 16, most of whom were first time learners who enjoyed ikebana very much.
Joan held the fourth workshop in March. Again, 16 people were registered, but one missed the class. A couple of the participants had taken a class or two earlier in the year. Carol Zhang assisted Joan.
We hope there will be more opportunities like this in the future where we can bring the joy of Ikebana to more communities across the Lower Mainland.
Romy Chan, Yoko Masuda, Cecily Chang, Joan Fairs
Exhibition at Crystal Mall
On March 1-13 2024, I was invited to do floral arrangements for the “Life + Art” exhibition in the CCM Centre (Chinese Christian Mission) on the 2nd floor of Crystal Mall in Burnaby. There was a floor piece and two table arrangements. (I had mentioned at the Spring Show virtual meeting the other day and was asked if possible to send you photos and a brief introduction.)
The theme of the exhibition was “The art show narrating the life story of Christian women through their creative expressions”. It’s a Gospel art show and the “International Women’s Day” was amidst the exhibition period which made this exhibition more meaningful. I changed my materials from time to time to keep my ikebana more fresh and durable for two weeks.
Cecily Chang, Ikenobo
The New Denver Ikebana Project (NDIP)
We gratefully acknowledge support from the Community Fund of the Japanese Canadian Legacies Society
In October 2023, Hollis Ho applied for a grant with the Japanese Canadian Legacies Society (JCLS) Community Fund stream.
The NDIP initiative was an application under the JCLS Community Fund – Category 3 – Unincorporated Group. To qualify for this grant, the Unincorporated group must be at least ten (10) persons and 50% of the group members must be Japanese Canadian (JC). The group, if a subgroup of a larger organization, the group must be endorsed in writing by their larger organization.
We are so thankful to have the support of both the Vancouver Ikebana Association and the Sogetsu Vancouver Branch for not only with letters of support submitted with our grant application, but also with financial donations to the NDIP.
Description of the Project:
The New Denver Ikebana Project (NDIP) is a 5 day project that will take place in New Denver, BC this summer from July 24-28, 2024.
The NDIP will reach out to those living specifically in the small BC communities that do not always have access to Japanese cultural events. The project is to do a presentation of Ikebana in three (3) formats: an exhibition, demonstration, and a hands-on workshop. All pre-planning, preparation, fundraising, purchasing of supplies etc. is being done in Vancouver by a group of 10 persons – all members of VIA and Sogetsu. This project is a 5 day commitment and includes 2 travel days to and from Vancouver (660+km from Vancouver) to Nakusp BC, which will be the headquarters for accommodations, preparations, foraging, material conditioning, organizing, and a practice demonstration run-through. The Bosun Hall in New Denver is a 30-minute drive from Nakusp, and the group will set-up at the hall in New Denver on July 26 (day 3) and the full-day project will be presented on Saturday, July 27, 2024 (day 4). On July 28th(day 5) the group will return to Vancouver.
The Village of New Denver was thoughtfully chosen for this project as it was here, and in the surrounding small communities where 22,000 Japanese Canadians were forcibly sent to Internment camps during WWII. The Nikkei Internment Memorial Centre is located in New Denver as well and this year celebrates its 30 Anniversary.
The New Denver Ikebana Project is a meaningful way to introduce, share and educate the small communities on the beauty of Ikebana as a traditional Japanese Cultural art form.
This project is an open invitation to all members of the Vancouver Ikebana Association to attend. The distance is far, but the Slocan Valley in the Kootenay region of our province is pristine and beautiful.
Hollis Ho, Sogetsu
Upcoming events
May 5th Burnaby Blooms Shadbolt Centre and grounds 11-4.
May 25th and 26th Spring Show Roundhouse Community Centre. Details to follow
June 8th Business Meeting at the McGregor house Library 1:30 4250 Marine Drive, Burnaby
June 23rd Sangetsu Exhibition 5:00 -8:00 pm McGregor House
August 3rd and 4th Powell Street Festival Details to follow
