Sarasota Chapter #115

Our chapter held a one-day exhibition in the large function room of the Gulf Gate Public Library on Saturday, April 29th from 10:00 to 4:00. This exhibition was open to the public to experience the beauty of the Japanese style of floral design. Ikenobo, Ichiyo, Ohara, Sogetsu, and Wafu schools were represented by the members. More than 25 arrangements filled the room while visitors of all ages viewed the splendid designs. Japanese Koto music filled the air to give a special ambiance to the event.

While our chapter has held a special Ikebana workshop for children, ‘Flowers for Mom’, for the past 15 years at the Gulf Gate Library, this is the first exhibition held at this venue. The Gulf Gate Library is a very busy and successful library with many activities available, free to the public.

The exhibition was extremely successful and well attended by so many who had either never heard of this cultural art or wanted to find out more about participating. We gained 4 new members from this event. Due to the success, we have scheduled a date for the 2nd annual exhibit for April 2024. We also found that so many were interested in becoming a member that having events at the library on a Saturday would help increase our membership and bring more awareness to our chapter’s activities. Several Saturday morning meetings with workshops are scheduled for our upcoming season 2023-2024.

When we learned that Ikebana Day, June 6th celebration was to be honored, we then used the photos from this exhibition along with a number of additional arrangement photos to create 3:00 min. video. Please have a look on our website: https//www.ikebanasarasota.com.