Boston Chapter #17 USA

September 21-22, 2024　 Exhibition　 Open to the Public
The New England Fall Flower Show was held on Saturday, September 21 and Sunday, September 22 at MHS Elm Bank in Wellesley, MA. This is the oldest Flower Show in the United States and this fall was the 137th show.Compliments to the eight arrangers for their beautiful creations in the Cheney Room at the New England Fall Flower Show. The audience that stopped by the exhibit expressed great interest in our ikebana designs. The fantastic display of Ikebana featured arrangements from Ikenobo, Ohara and Sogetsu schools with a wide range of ikebana for visitors to enjoy. Every arrangement utilized beautiful elements, colors, lines and containers in their designs. We are honored to share the beauty and charm of ikebana with the audience at this long running floral tradition.
October 8,2024　 Demonstration and Chapter Meeting
Ikebana International Boston Chapter 17 held their first event of the 2024 – 2025 year at the headquarters of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society, Elm Bank,
President Tomoko Tanaka opened the program with welcoming words. Jonette Nagai, Program Chair, introduced the program which was designed as an opportunity to compare and contrast different schools of ikebana. One chapter member from each of the three schools, Sogetsu, Ohara, and Ikenobo, demonstrated an arrangement reflecting the theme of “wabi-sabi”. This was followed by a brief discussion of the five exhibit arrangements by their arranger.　Marcia Bridgeman of the Sogetsu opened the program with a brief lecture on the history of wabi-sabi with detailed explanations on how wabi-sabi was reflected in the two arrangements she made. She was followed by Russell Bowers of the Ohara School who did an arrangement in a tall basket. She demonstrated various techniques used to secure materials in a tall container while discussing how the materials and arrangements reflected wabi-sabi. The demonstrations concluded with Deborah Young of the Ikenobo School doing an arrangement in a suiban. The five arrangements on exhibit included: a free-standing arrangement using sunflowers by Doris Fina of the Sogetsu School; a colorful Ikenobo arrangement by Wendy Folmer of the Ikenobo School; a striking and tall arrangement by Chih Huang of the Sogetsu School which was her very first wabi-sabi arrangement; an elegant and more modern Ikenobo arrangement by Teresa Silverman; and a tall heika arrangement using ornamental pear branches by David Wilsey of the Ohara School. All of the arrangements were spectacular.