Photos by Sophie Blaylock and Becky Brisley
Amid the bustling atmosphere of downtown Phoenix lies the tranquil Japanese Friendship Garden, a beautiful area that contrasts with the rest of the city’s concrete landscape.
From Friday to Sunday, the garden hosted its fifth annual Ikebana Exhibit, a show presenting the Japanese art of flower arrangement.
A vast array of these intricate flower arrangements were put together by teachers and students of the Sogetsu School, an ikebana school located in Japan that has students all over the world.
There are two levels that the school recognizes for groups of people practicing ikebana: study groups as well as official branches. Arizona has its own study group, the Sonoran Desert Sogetsu Study Group. Though the group is not yet officially recognized as a branch, it will be applying in the spring to become one.
Royetta Marconi-Dooley, chairperson of the Sonoran study group, said there are four instructors in the group.
“We each have our own students that we teach, but we wanted to give our students and ourselves some additional experiences in ikebana,” Marconi-Dooley said. “We wanted our students to get to work with other teachers other than their primary teachers.”
According to the school’s website, there are 47 local branches in Japan and more than 100 branches around the world.
“To be a branch, you need to have more teachers and more students,” said Ping Wei, one of the four teachers in the Arizona group. “We have a good base of people who are interested in the Japanese culture, specifically ikebana, and that is a wonderful thing.”
Each of the branches must officially hold an annual exhibit of some kind. The Japanese Friendship Garden has become the home in which the group displays its annual work for the public to admire.
“The garden puts no restrictions,” Marconi-Dooley said. “We can do whatever we want, as big or small as we want. They don’t care if we build things or hang things from trees. We really like doing stuff there because we have so much freedom.”
Visitors walked throughout the garden and took in the secluded atmosphere and authentic Japanese setting throughout the weekend. Many stopped at each ikebana display to observe the structure and color use of the projects.
“It’s wonderful to have a serene spot like this in the middle of the city,” attendee Betty Robbins said. “It’s a perfect place to display the ikebana.”
Visitor Cindy Gibson said she was inspired to visit the garden because of the variety and expressions of the ikebana.
“The ikebana exhibits take a lot of elements from nature and combine them into art,” she said. “They marry different colors. It takes you to a place you’ve never been.”
While attendees walked around in awe of the atmosphere and flower art, there were also several photographers. Two such photographers were Dan Beekman and José Meza, who roamed the garden’s pathways with enthusiasm.
“We’re always just looking for something different,” Meza said. “It’s a different type of feel to it. There’s a natural look and it’s very calming. There’s nice sets and backdrops to get different looks.”
“There’s a waterfall which is nice, and you’ve got the Japanese theme,” Beekman added. “It’s nice to see something that’s different than your normal Arizona desert.”
Wei said the group plans to continue using the Japanese Friendship Garden to annually display their work.
Sarah Jarvis contributed to this report.
Contact the reporter at rebecca.brisley@asu.edu
