Show and Tell

Upon returning to the Arboretum from my study session with Yuji Yoshimura in January of 1995, I had a sense of urgency about following up on that success. It had taken a good deal of effort to secure the one-on-one time with the legendary old master. Now, in a calculating way, my objective was to make the most of my connection to him. I had been a latecomer to bonsai, thrown into the deep end of the learning pool, and because of the circumstances of my personal situation I was determined not to sink. My association with The North Carolina Arboretum, and particularly with Dr. John Creech, had opened the door for me to study at the National Bonsai and Penjing Museum in Washington, DC. The connection with that institution opened other doors, including, ultimately, the opportunity to study with Mr. Yoshimura. Before, when asked about my bonsai background I would always cite my study in Washington, DC. From this time forward, I would continue to cite the DC experience and then follow it with a reference to being a student of Yuji Yoshimura. It was important to be able to do that because those associations gave me needed credibility in the field in which I was now determined to succeed.

Success, I thought, depended on advancing four different initiatives simultaneously. First, I had to continue learning as much as I could about bonsai as quickly as possible because I still hadn't been at it for very long. As 1995 began I had amassed exactly two years of sporadic bonsai experience. At the same time, I had to continue bringing along the quality of the Arboretum’s collection because everything ultimately depended on that. The progress of the collection and the progress of my education went hand in hand — the bonsai in the Arboretum's collection were the subjects on which I was learning. The little trees would improve only so quickly as I could elevate my understanding of bonsai and advance my skills. The collection and I were bound to rise or fall together.

Additionally, I had to actively advocate for bonsai's place within the Arboretum. Bonsai was still in the institutional position of being a curious side venture, an experimental anomaly, and nothing like a full-fledged program in its own right. I was no curator then. I was allowed to refer to myself as the bonsai caretaker for public relations purposes, but that was an unofficial title. My designation within the State university system was General Utility Worker, the lowest rung on the pay rate ladder. Within the Arboretum I was designated as a Nursery Assistant, although I also spent a good deal of time doing grounds work. The time allowed for me to work with the bonsai collection amounted to two days per week. That time was not scheduled and it was usually fragmented into a patchwork of hours here and there. 

Lastly, I had to promote the Arboretum's bonsai initiative to the general public and most especially to the existing bonsai community in the Southeast region. As I read the lay of the land, the most likely path for bonsai to become a prominent feature of The North Carolina Arboretum was for the public to demand that happen. There was no reason to think the Arboretum would take a "build it and they will come" approach. Very little of what we now think of as The North Carolina Arboretum existed in 1995; however great plans were in place and construction was underway on what would become the core garden area. Bonsai was not part of the core gardens construction project because bonsai wasn't in any of the institutional planning, immediate or long range. Dr. Creech was on the Arboretum's Board of Directors and although he was a strong advocate for bonsai, he was also old, retired and not in charge. He had influence but he did not have the final say. If bonsai was going to work its way into the emerging Arboretum picture, some significant outside force would have to help shape events. Despite what cynics might say, there is hardly a more potent force in the sphere of public institutions than the will of the public.

In this sense, "public" refers to all individuals and groups outside the institution. The people who live in this region and support the Arboretum as a local resource are a part of the public. The family on vacation from another state impulsively dropping in to visit because they saw a road sign advertising the Arboretum is part of the public. A private individual of means who takes a philanthropic interest in the Arboretum is part of the public, as are corporate entities of the same description. Organizations focused on a particular horticultural interest — like bonsai — are part of the public. My strategy was to sell the idea of bonsai to the public that was just then beginning to coalesce around an arboretum still in the process of defining itself. My bet was that public support would eventually translate to institutional support.

Toward this end, shortly after my return from studying with Mr. Yoshimura, I organized an "open house" event at the Arboretum's Greenhouse and Support Facility complex. In those long ago days before the advent of the Bonsai Exhibition Garden, the Arboretum's bonsai collection was viewable only at the greenhouse and in the nearby hoop house. Those areas, which are generally restricted now to Staff-only access, were open to the public back then in order to flesh out the visitor experience. I made arrangements one weekend that February to host a special bonsai day, featuring a live bonsai demonstration and educational exhibits. I provided the demonstration by trimming and repotting a serissa bonsai from the Arboretum collection. This public performance was my first effort of that sort and decidedly informal. Still, I was in front of an audience in my new role as a bonsai authority, showing how to do bonsai stuff while explaining what was going on and answering questions. In a situation like that, when you're not really an expert but you're onstage playing the part of one, you hope no one in the audience knows more about your subject than you do. That fortunate arrangement was the case in my first bonsai demo and I got by alright.

The educational exhibits offered that day consisted of the three bonsai that were central to my study with Mr. Yoshimura, each accompanied by explanatory signage. The baldcypress from our collection was there, the one I had brought with me for Mr. Yoshimura to style. The tree was bare of foliage but wearing lots of wire and the top of it was trussed up to a bamboo rod for purposes of repositioning. There was a line of white chalk on the tree's trunk to indicate where Mr. Yoshimura had instructed me to introduce a deadwood element to the design. For people who didn't know much about bonsai, as was the case with our audience that day, this bonsai in bondage had a startling effect. A tabletop placard nearby explained the training that was taking place. The three-trunk hemlock Mr. Yoshimura had donated to our collection was also on display, along with a sign announcing the gift and making a point about how much it meant to have a bonsai from such a world-renowned artist.

The main exhibit of the event was the large group of American hornbeam planted on a plywood slab, created by Mr. Yoshimura on the last day of my stay with him. That display included several placards, showing a few photos I made of Mr. Yoshimura when he was putting together the planting, along with the drawing he made of the design scheme and some text describing what the pictures showed. The unique hornbeam-on-plywood planting generated a lot of comment from the several dozen people who dropped in that day. I talked with anyone who expressed interest and did everything I could to energetically convey the impression that bonsai was an up and coming feature of the Arboretum.

This open house was not the first outreach I had undertaken. I had begun pursuing public involvement after my visit to the National Bonsai and Penjing Museum two years before, when I had a chance to observe what the program in DC looked like. My approach was more confident now, however, because of things Mr. Yoshimura had said to me: Think for yourself and think big. Cultivate a dynamic stage presence. Engage the public with something different. It would take years for me to figure out how to do all that with any proficiency, but this obscure little day of show and tell was a step in that direction.