Ikebana International Chapter 53

Elaine Jo is the most influential master of Ichiyo Ikebana in the United States today.  She has done an unbelievable amount of work supporting and spreading this  wonderful art for years.  Besides producing an outstanding amount of accomplished students and teachers, she has also put on many workshops, exhibitions, and conferences over the years.   […]

The Head Master (Iemoto) of the Ichiyo School of Ikebana (Naohiro Kasuya) travels from Japan to Washington, DC for a three day event this past September. After several days of preparation with the help of students, the Iemoto made several large arrangements on stage.  As with the previous Iemoto (his father), the Ichiyo School’s use

Antoinette Moon was a valued member of the Ikebana International Rochester Chapter 53 family.  She was a member for many years and served as one of its past presidents.  As a trained artist her arrangements showed a degree of sophistication and aesthetics which was uncommon and much appreciated.  Intrigued by ikebana as a Japanese art,

Yasuko Spence is a Sei-Shihan (Master Teacher) of the Hijiri Ikenobo School of Ikebana.  She was raised in Japan and after meeting her late husband, David Spence, while they were both working for General Electric, they eventually got married and moved to the United States.  She joined Ikebana International Rochester Chapter 53 in 1997 and

Now that Governor Cuomo has stated that 70% of the population of New York State has had at least one COVID vaccine shot, he is opening up the state to more of our usual activities.  This means that starting in next month–July–we will be meeting back at the First Baptist Church of Rochester on the

The Ichiyo School of Ikebana was started in 1937 by a brother and sister–Meikof and Ichiyo Kasuya.  They sought to create an original ikebana what was suitable for the modern lifestyle.  What was started as a small endeavor now has grown to include chapters and practitioners all across the world. The first headmaster of the

Saskia Eller is a 2nd  Term Master of the Ohara School of Ikebana and is a former President of Rochester’s Ikebana International chapter.  After being born in the Netherlands and raised in North Africa, East Africa and Europe, Saskia became a US citizen and now lives in the Finger Lakes region of New York. In

In the Rochester, NY, Ikebana International Chapter, we are very fortunate to have a very well trained and experienced ikebana master of the Ichiyo School of Ikebana–Ms. Karen Napoli.  She has trained in Japan and in the United States, and has spent years teaching the art of Ichiyo Ikebana to countless students.  She is the

  Yasuko Spence is the Sei-Shihan (Master Teacher) of the Hijiri Ikenobo School. She was born in China during the Second World War while her father was an administrator for a Japanese Hospital in northern China.  When the war ended in 1945, she moved back to Japan with her family where she attended schools in

Our dear chapter member, Fudeko Maruyama, passed away on December 24, 2020 from complications associated with Covid 19. She was 91. Fudeko studied Hijiri Ikenobo with Yasuko Spence and enjoyed making the traditional ikebana arrangements. The group she took classes with enjoyed her gentle, sweet nature and quiet sense of humor. Not many knew that