Registration and Morning Tea and Japanese Sweets 9:30am
Presentations and Demonstration 10:00am
Lecture by Kevin Adkisson, Collections Fellow, Cranbrook Center for Collections and Research
Presentation and Karesansui Demonstration by Japanese Horticulturalist Chisato Takeuchi
Chanoyu Tea Ceremony by the Japan Society of Detroit Women’s Club
The Lecture, Presentation and Demonstration are Free to attend
Reservations are required
PRESENTED BY THE CRANBROOK CENTER FOR COLLECTIONS AND RESEARCH. CHISATO TAKEUCHI’S VISIT AND PRESENTATION IS GENEROUSLY SPONSORED BY THE CONSULATE GENERAL OF JAPAN IN DETROIT.
Join the Cranbrook Center for Collections and Research as we explore the history of Japanese tea culture, celebrating the ongoing revitalization of the Cranbrook Japanese Garden and the long connection between Frank Lloyd Wright, the Smith family, and Japan. The morning begins with a lecture on Wright and his relationship with Japanese art and design by Collections Fellow Kevin Adkisson, followed by a presentation by the Japanese horticulturalist Chisato Takeuchi titled The Japanese Tea Garden – The First Step to Tea. Following her presentation on Japanese tea gardens, including their design, features, and role in the tea ceremony, Ms. Takeuchi will demonstrate the techniques involved in creating karesansui, a Japanese dry landscape garden.
Frank Lloyd Wright was introduced to Japanese art and architecture in Chicago in the late 19th century through prints and the 1893 World’s Fair, and his early attraction and interest in Japanese design would continue throughout his long career. Wright’s organic architecture took lessons from his observations about Japanese architecture’s relationship to nature. First visiting the country in 1905 and in residence there between 1916 and 1922, Wright built a handful of structures in Japan and amassed a large collection of Japanese art: prints, screens, scrolls, sculptures, textiles, and ceramics. These objects would be woven into the architect’s own Wisconsin home, Taliesin.
Wright’s love of Japan often extended into his clients’ lives, and Melvyn and Sara Smith became interested in Japanese culture after building their small Usonian-style Wright house in 1950. The Smiths hosted many Japanese visitors to the home, and received many small tokens of appreciation in the form of Japanese ceramics and prints. In 1968, Wright’s apprentice and protégé William Wesley Peters designed a small tea house to be constructed alongside the pond behind the house. This unbuilt project will be explored as a part of the morning presentation at Cranbrook Institute of Science.
ABOUT THE PRESENTERS
Chisato Takeuchi is a native of Japan and is based in the town of Kawajima, in Saitama Prefecture. She studied at both the Techno Horticultural Technical College in Japan and Writtle University College in the United Kingdom where she was awarded a National Certificate in Horticulture. The recipient of numerous awards for her gardening skills, Ms. Takeuchi has practiced garden design and management at the Yamagiwa Creating Dreams Garden in Saitama and as the co-owner and chief designer of the Japanese garden design company Ryokuseien in Saitama.
Since the summer of 2016, Kevin Adkisson has served as the Center’s Collections Fellow coordinating preservation, interpretation, and programming across the many buildings and treasures of Cranbrook. A native of north Georgia, Mr. Adkisson has his BA in Architecture from Yale and is completing his MA from the University of Delaware’s Winterthur Program in American Material Culture. Mr. Adkisson previously worked for Robert A.M. Stern Architects in New York as a research and writing associate and at Kent Bloomer Studio in New Haven designing and fabricating architectural ornament.
JAPANESE TEA GARDENS AND TEA HOUSES: FROM JAPAN TO FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT AND TODAY
The Lecture, Presentation and Demonstration is offered in conjunction with three intimate Japanese tea ceremonies at the Frank Lloyd Wright Smith House, presented by members of the Japan Society of Detroit Women’s Club. The Japanese tea ceremonies required paid reservations. To learn more and register for one of the teas, please click here. Free reservations for the Presentation may be made through the REGISTER FOR THIS EVENT button below.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Cranbrook Institute of Science is located at 39221 Woodward Avenue in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. Free parking is available in the Institute’s parking deck.
For more information, please contact the Cranbrook Center for Collections and Research at 248.645.3307.
PHOTO CREDITS (FROM TOP TO BOTTOM)
Frank Lloyd Wright, Architect. Imperial Hotel, Tokyo, Japan. Vintage Postcard, circa 1923 (detail).
Chisato Takeuchi. Photography Courtesy of Chisato Takeuchi.