“Ikebana Walk” on Southport Corridor: Flower Exhibit Supports Local Businesses

Photo: the second from the left, Calvin Cottrell, Bennett R. Lawson, Stephen Toyoda, Charles Harris, Yuko Inoue Darcy, Ty Yamamoto and Saira Chambers | Yoshiko Urayama

Indoor and storefront installations of Japanese flower arrangement welcomed shoppers at select establishments on Southport Avenue, Chicago’s North Side, on July 9 and 10. Fifteen restaurants, cafes, and shops on “Southport Corridor” – a stretch of Southport Ave. approximately between W. Grace St. and W. Henderson St. – participated in the free event. The two-day event was designed to support the area’s restaurants and businesses, while introducing Japanese arts and culture to the local residents and visitors.

Photo: Ohara Ryu Ikebana at Julius Meinl Restaurant and Café | Yoshiko Urayama

In their storefront windows and inside the shops were flower arrangements, or ikebana, installed by the teachers and students of the Ikenobo and Ohara schools of ikebana. Origami flower arrangements by origami artist Ty Yamamoto, as well as ikebana-themed, avant-garde Japanese calligraphies by shodo artist Hekiun Oda, were also on display at four of the participating locations.

The Japanese Culture Center organized the event in partnership with the Lakeview Roscoe Village Chamber of Commerce and the Japanese Arts Foundation. It was sponsored by SSA 27, an organization dedicated to the development of the Lakeview area, and Melissa & John Ziberna. The Chicago Chapters of the Ikenobo Ikebana Society and the Ohara School of Ikebana provided ikebana installations.

At noon, July 9, the exhibition kicked off with a ribbon-cutting ceremony in front of the CTA Brown Line’s Southport station. Attendees included Stephen Toyoda, President of the Japanese Culture Center; Saira Chambers, Director of the Japanese Arts Foundation; Charles Harris, Ikenobo Chicago Chapter President; Yuko Inoue Darcy, Ohara School Chicago Chapter President; Bennett Lawson, Chief of Staff of the 44th Ward Alderman Thomas Tunney; and Calvin Cottrell, Director of Community Outreach and Public Safety of Tunney's office.

Lawson congratulated the event as a wonderful opportunity to showcase a very unique part of Japanese traditions. “I think it translates well to a lot of different communities,” he said. Lawson has tried his hand at paper ikebana arrangement as a college student and feels “a little bit familiar” with the ikebana culture. He suggested that when we see ikebana, we recognize we don’t understand what’s behind it. “It’s more than just flowers in a vase; it has a lot of meanings. And I think this is a great opportunity [to make people think about it,” he said.

Photo: Ikenobo Ikebana at Evereve Clothing – Boutique | Yoshiko Urayama

Photo: Ohara Ryu Ikebana at Galleria Liqueurs | Yoshiko Urayama

Cottrell was hopeful that this event will highlight local businesses and find a way to support the Japanese Culture Center. “Our office [of Alderman Tunney] is always happy to work for it,” he added.

Ikenobo’s Harris offered his view of ikebana as an art form. “There is a lot to be said about ikebana,” he said. “I think ultimately it [ikebana] is the voice of flowers that speaks to us, to individual artists.” When we see the flowers in the windows, Harris suggested, we should try to listen what they have to say.

The 15 participating locations were restaurants & cafes, apparel shops, a liqueur store, a sweet shop, a cosmetic store, a shoe store, a gift shop and more.

The Ohara Schools’ Inoue Darcy said it has been an opportunity to learn, as well as a challenge, to come up with something new for each installation. It was also fun for her to create different arrangements to match the ambience of each location.

Photo: Ikenobo Ikebana at Framebridge Southport | Yoshiko Urayama

For example, Inoue Darcy explained, she considers factors about each store, such as what time of the day they operate, what types of customers they have, what their tastes are like, and what atmosphere they want to create. Then, she chooses flowers and types of arrangement that match the information she obtained. The Ohara School provided installations at eight locations.

One of the eight locations, Galleria Liqueurs, is adorned with a magnificent, sparkling chandelier which shines on bottles of wine, whiskey, and other liquors. It hosted a sake tasting event during the exhibition. There, the Ohara School provided a moribana installation of various chrysanthemums, following the school’s traditions. It was designed to stand out in the store and strike a harmonizing note with a selection of Japanese sake.

At Julius Meinl Restaurant and Café, the Ohara School’s installation was in a more modern form to match the surroundings of this European-style café. Originated in Vienna, Austria, the café represents Vienna coffee house culture in America. The installation in Candyality, a small sweet shop glittered with colorful candies and pop art decorations, was a “quiet” arrangement to intentionally counter its surroundings, said Inoue Darcy.

Photo: Ohara Ryu Ikebana at Candyality | Yoshiko Urayama

The Ikenobo School provided storefront window installations. Harris explained each installation was created by the Chapter members to “respond to the environment” of the location. The Ikebana Walking Exhibit allows people to view the art of ikebana up close. Harris said that is the exciting part of this event. According to Harris, the Ikenobo School Chicago Chapter was founded by his teacher Ikka Nakashima 58 years ago. “We are one of the oldest ikebana institutions in this area,” he said.