Schools
Hijiri Ikenobo School of Ikebana
The Hijiri Ikenobo School of Ikebana was founded in 1979 by the current Head Mistress Gyokusei Okazawa. The late ikebana research scholar/professor Mr. Masanobu Kudoh, greatly encouraged her to start this school. The foundation and essence of the Hijiri Ikenobo School is the pursuit of this original ikebana form, blending the traditional upright style (Tachiike or Shoka) with the modern freestyle (Jiyu-bana), emphasizing harmony, and targeting the complete balance and total composition of ikebana.
Teachers: Yasuko Spence, Jerome Cushman, Fauzia Jamshed, Bia Ades, Luba Morsh, Ronna Treier, Mahoko Akabayashi
Ichiyo School of Ikebana
Arrangements in the Ichiyo School of Ikebana are intended to arouse our senses in a different way from traditional ikebana, giving the viewer an experience with nature that is unexpected, stimulating, and profound. The Ichiyo School encourages personal interpretation. Imagination is considered as essential to creative designs as materials and containers. “If flower arranging is to be truly fulfilling, it should be a reflection of oneself.”
Teachers: Karen Napoli, Gail Newman, Jerome Cushman, Ann Nash, David Williams.
Ohara School of Ikebana
The Ohara School of Ikebana emphasizes seasonal qualities, natural growth processes, and the beauty of natural environments. The Ohara School believes that it is important for its students to observe nature. The school was founded by Unshin Ohara in the late nineteenth century, when Japan opened itself to the influence of Western culture. His departure from previous ikebana lay in the creation of a new form which he called the moribana style which persists to this day and from which the school’s “landscape arrangement” evolved.
Teachers: Saskia Eller, Marjorie DaVanzo,
Sogetsu School of Ikebana
The founder of the Sogetsu School, Sofu Teshigahara, introduced Sogetsu as a creative art in which students aren’t restricted by fixed styles and are encouraged to freely express themselves. He said that anyone can create ikebana…anytime, anywhere, using any material. The Sogetsu curriculum prepares students to express individual creativity. Characteristics of plant materials, design principles, and techniques are learned and used as students practice the composition of line, mass, color, and space. Arrangements are always new, and endless in their possibilities.
Teacher: Faye Phillips
