Press Releases

Portland Japanese Garden Presents the Year of the Healing Garden

January 26th, 2012

“Throughout history, gardens have been regarded as a source of comfort and healing for mind and body for people in cultures around the world,” said Diane Durston, Curator of Culture, Arts and Education at the Portland Japanese Garden. “The restorative qualities of nature are beautifully evident in the tranquil setting of the Portland Japanese Garden.”

Tea, Talks, and Lectures

During the winter months, there will be new ways of enjoying the Garden during even the coldest of days. With a warm and inviting atmosphere inside the Garden Pavilion, visitors will be able to sit down for a cup of hot tea, take time to read poetry or study some aspect of health and well-being, surrounded by soft music and beautiful paintings by Stephen Futscher, a Portland-based artist who spent more than 20 years in Japan. On Tuesday and Thursday afternoons in February visitors can also hear talks from an expert on achieving a sense of peace and happiness. As a special treat on Friday afternoons, visitors can sample traditional Japanese sweets by Yume Confections. The Garden will also offer special winter guided tours every day during the month of February, so that visitors have the opportunity to see the elegant silhouettes of maple branches and with luck catch a light dusting of snow on the sand and stone garden.

Throughout the year, the Garden will offer other wellness programs and lectures including one by Anna Tamura, landscape architect at the National Park Service in Seattle, who will discuss how Japanese-American inmates in World War II internment camps coped with the psychological trauma of imprisonment by creating Japanese gardens. In July, Teresia Hazen, Head of Horticultural Therapy at Legacy Health, will speak about how working with soil and plants helps with the healing process. In another lecture for October, the Garden will welcome Mike Houck, executive director of the Urban Green Spaces Institute, as he discusses the role of public gardens as restorative spaces in the community. Additional programs will be added throughout the year.

Art in the Garden

The Garden’s annual Art in the Garden exhibitions will reflect how art works hand-in-hand with healing:

• Meditative Moment: The Tea Ceramics of Richard Milgrim and the Paintings of Hiroshi Senju : April 6–29, 2012

This exhibition focuses on the theme of tea and its influence on the arts, social customs, and healthful practices in Japan. Chado, the Way of Tea, is an artistic practice that has inspired the creation of the highest level of fine arts and crafts for more than 400 years. Richard Milgrim is an acclaimed Kyoto-based ceramic artist, and Hiroshi Senju’s massive waterfall paintings are featured in major museums around the world. He will share some of his more intimate works at the Garden.

• Hiroshi Saito: Art that Heals: June 8–July 1, 2012

For the past 30 years, textile artist Hiroshi Saito has devoted much of his time to using his art to help the developmentally disabled, and most recently Tohoku tsunami victim relief programs. This textile exhibition will feature beautifully designed garments, scarves, and wall hangings created in Hiroshi’s Kyoto studio. The exhibition will also include community collaboration with three organizations in Portland: Cascade Aids Project, a provider of HIV services, housing, education and advocacy, Art from the Heart, which serves the developmentally disabled; and p:ear, serving homeless youth through art-based programs.

• Bamboo Art: Meditation and Transformation: November 2–25, 2012

The focus of this exhibition will be on the art and craft of working with bamboo as a life-affirming process for both the artist and the viewer. Two Portland artists, Charissa Brock and Anne Crumpacker, will participate in the exhibition with Jiro Yonezawa of Kyushu, Japan.

For a complete listing of all events and programs related to the theme of the healing garden, please visit: http://japanesegarden.com/events/healing2012.

# # #

The Portland Japanese Garden is the most authentic Japanese garden outside of Japan. Situated on more than 5 acres nestled in the scenic west hills of Portland, the Garden features five traditional garden styles. The Garden is located above Washington Park at 611 SW Kingston Drive in SW Portland, Oregon and is open daily except on Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s. Visit the Garden online at www.japanesegarden.com.

 

 

Art Exhibitions, Guest Lectures, and Wellness Programs Complement the Serenity of the Garden

Portland, Ore. — January 27, 2012 — In 2012, the Portland Japanese Garden will explore the role of gardens as places of healing through related exhibitions, guest lectures by horticultural therapists and experts from Western and Eastern medical traditions, morning yoga sessions with Yoga Pearl, and other activities. Working with partners at Legacy Emanuel and Legacy Good Samaritan Hospitals and the National College of Natural Medicine (NCNM) in Portland—­both of which have healing gardens in their own spaces—the Japanese Garden will reach out to the community to consider “The Healing Garden” in all its many aspects.

 “Throughout history, gardens have been regarded as a source of comfort and healing for mind and body for people in cultures around the world,” said Diane Durston, Curator of Culture, Arts and Education at the Portland Japanese Garden. “The restorative qualities of nature are beautifully evident in the tranquil setting of the Portland Japanese Garden.”

Tea, Talks, and Lectures

During the winter months, there will be new ways of enjoying the Garden during even the coldest of days. With a warm and inviting atmosphere inside the Garden Pavilion, visitors will be able to sit down for a cup of hot tea, take time to read poetry or study some aspect of health and well-being, surrounded by soft music and beautiful paintings by Stephen Futscher, a Portland-based artist who spent more than 20 years in Japan. On Tuesday and Thursday afternoons in February visitors can also hear talks from an expert on achieving a sense of peace and happiness. As a special treat on Friday afternoons, visitors can sample traditional Japanese sweets by Yume Confections. The Garden will also offer special winter guided tours every day during the month of February, so that visitors have the opportunity to see the elegant silhouettes of maple branches and with luck catch a light dusting of snow on the sand and stone garden.

Throughout the year, the Garden will offer other wellness programs and lectures including one by Anna Tamura, landscape architect at the National Park Service in Seattle, who will discuss how Japanese-American inmates in World War II internment camps coped with the psychological trauma of imprisonment by creating Japanese gardens. In July, Teresia Hazen, Head of Horticultural Therapy at Legacy Health, will speak about how working with soil and plants helps with the healing process. In another lecture for October, the Garden will welcome Mike Houck, executive director of the Urban Green Spaces Institute, as he discusses the role of public gardens as restorative spaces in the community. Additional programs will be added throughout the year.

Art in the Garden

The Garden’s annual Art in the Garden exhibitions will reflect how art works hand-in-hand with healing:

·         Meditative Moment: The Tea Ceramics of Richard Milgrim and the Paintings of Hiroshi Senju : April 6–29, 2012

This exhibition focuses on the theme of tea and its influence on the arts, social customs, and healthful practices in Japan. Chado, the Way of Tea, is an artistic practice that has inspired the creation of the highest level of fine arts and crafts for more than 400 years. Richard Milgrim is an acclaimed Kyoto-based ceramic artist, and Hiroshi Senju’s massive waterfall paintings are featured in major museums around the world. He will share some of his more intimate works at the Garden.

·         Hiroshi Saito: Art that Heals: June 8–July 1, 2012

For the past 30 years, textile artist Hiroshi Saito has devoted much of his time to using his art to help the developmentally disabled, and most recently Tohoku tsunami victim relief programs. This textile exhibition will feature beautifully designed garments, scarves, and wall hangings created in Hiroshi’s Kyoto studio. The exhibition will also include community collaboration with three organizations in Portland: Cascade Aids Project, a provider of HIV services, housing, education and advocacy, Art from the Heart, which serves the developmentally disabled; and p:ear, serving homeless youth through art-based programs.

·         Bamboo Art: Meditation and Transformation: November 2–25, 2012

The focus of this exhibition will be on the art and craft of working with bamboo as a life-affirming process for both the artist and the viewer. Two Portland artists, Charissa Brock and Anne Crumpacker, will participate in the exhibition with Jiro Yonezawa of Kyushu, Japan.

For a complete listing of all events and programs related to the theme of the healing garden, please visit: http://japanesegarden.com/events/healing2012.

# # #

The Portland Japanese Garden is the most authentic Japanese garden outside of Japan. Situated on more than 5 acres nestled in the scenic west hills of Portland, the Garden features five traditional garden styles. The Garden is located above Washington Park at 611 SW Kingston Drive in SW Portland, Oregon and is open daily except on Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s. Visit the Garden online at www.japanesegarden.com.

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