2026 Lecture Series registration is now open! Past lectures listed towards the bottom.
Thursday, May 21, 2026
Janie Grillo, Nature/Forest Therapy Guide
7:00 PM Lecture | Members – Free | Non-Members $5 | Pre-Registration Required | Limited Spaces Available
Invite and Support Butterflies in your Landscape
Whether you offer a planter or a whole prairie, you can easily attract these beautiful creatures to your landscape. Learn about the lifecycle of butterflies, how to garden for each stage of their life and how to create a habitat for them in turn, other pollinators. Take home information about nectar and host plants that or most common butterflies enjoy.
Janie Grillo has a BS in biology from SUNY at Fredonia (1975) and is certified by the association of Nature and Forest Therapy Guides. She has worked for two ornamental and native plant nurseries cumulatively for 23 years and has studied, observed and raised butterflies for 25 years. A year after adding her own butterfly garden at home, Janie designed and coordinated a handicap-accessible sensory, butterfly garden at an equine-assisted therapy facility. She has tagged monarch butterflies for Monarch Watch since 2002 and visited the monarch sanctuaries in Mexico in 2012. Janie has had the pleasure to speak at a wide range of venues. She enjoys meeting people and hopes to stir interest in plants and pollinators.
Thursday, June 18, 2026
Sadafumi Uchiyama, Curator Emeritus of Portland Japanese Garden
7:00 PM Lecture | Members – Free | Non-Members $5 | Pre-Registration Required | Limited Spaces Available
He is a registered landscape architect in Oregon with a BLA and MLA from the University of Illinois. His representative projects include Osaka Garden, the site of the 1893 Great Columbian Exposition at Jackson Park in Chicago, the Shofu-en of the Denver Botanic Gardens and a Japanese garden at Duke University in NC. Sada is currently a design consultant for Anderson Japanese Gardens.
Thursday, July 16, 2026
Hekiun Oda
7:00 PM Lecture | Members – Free | Non-Members $5 | Pre-Registration Required | Limited Spaces Available
Hekiun Oda Sensei was born and raised in Kobe, Japan – a region long renowned for producing many distinguished calligraphers. At the age of five, he began his formal training under the tutelage of the celebrated calligrapher Keigo-un; since then, he has dedicated his entire life to the path of calligraphy.
After relocating his base of operations to Chicago in 1990, he expanded his artistic activities across a diverse range of venues, including UNIQLO, the Japan Information Center (JIC) in Chicago, and the Japan Culture Center – where we are gathered today. In addition to hosting live calligraphy performances and solo exhibitions – widely regarded as the most prestigious open-submission exhibitions in the Japanese calligraphy world-and has consistently been selected as an exhibitor, particularly in the Yomiuri Calligraphy Exhibition.
In 2026, he moved his primary base of operations to New York, where he continues to work as a visual artist, broadly disseminating the beauty of Japanese calligraphy art. In 2009, he established the “Oda Japanese Calligraphy School”, through which he has instructed over 100 students to date. Moreover, in November 2011, he was awarded the title of *Shihan* (Master Instructor)-the highest rank attainable for a calligraphy teacher-by the Genshinkai, one of the most authoritative organizations within the calligraphy community in Japan.
Thursday, August 20, 2026
Mami Takahashi
7:00 PM Lecture | Members – Free | Non-Members $5 | Pre-Registration Required | Limited Spaces Available
Traces of Repair: Kintsugi, Memory, and Material
This lecture explores Kintsugi not only as a traditional Japanese repair technique, but as a way of understanding how objects change over time and carry traces of their history. Contemporary artist Mami Takahashi shares how her work engages Kintsugi alongside performance, sound, and installation to reflect on memory, transformation, and the quiet presence of materials. Rather than restoring and object to its original state, Kintsugi highlights breakage, allowing damage to remain visible as part of the object’s ongoing life.
In the context of the Japanese garden – where attention to seasonality, change ,and subtle transformation is central- this talk invites audiences to consider repair as a form of care, continuity, and awareness.
Mami Takahashi is a contemporary artist from Tokyo, based in Chicago. Working across material-based practices, including Kintsugi, as well as performance, sound, and installation, her work explores memory, language, and cultural continuity.
Her practice considers how materials and bodies carry traces of experience over time, often through processes of repetition, layering, and repair. Rather than concealing damage, her work highlights transformation-allowing fragments, voices, and materials to remain visible as part of an ongoing presence.
Takahashi has presented her work at institutions including the International Museum of Surgical Science (Chicago), Portland Institute for Contemporary Art, San Francisco Art Institute, and Southern Alberta Art Gallery. She is currently serving as Artistic Director at the Japanese Culture Center and will serve as Artistic & Curatorial Advisor of Japanese Art at the Heritage Museum of Asian Art (Chicago) beginning in 2026.
Thursday, September 17, 2026
Margot Wang, President of Ohara School Chicago Chapter
7:00 PM Lecture | Members – Free | Non-Members $5 | Pre-Registration Required | Limited Spaces Available
Landscape in Ikebana
Ikebana goes beyond flowers and plants. Space is also a great factor to be included in Ikebana. Landscapes is the signature style of Ohara School of Ikebana. In addition to the power point lecture of how the landscape evolves in Ikebana history, several related Ikebana styles will be demonstrated.
Margot Wang is a distinguished Ikebana Master and a prominent leader in Chicago’s Japanese floral arts community. She currently serves as the President of the Ohara School Chicago Chapter, following a four-year tenure as President of Ikebana International Chicago Chapter (2020-2024)
As a Master Sensei at Ikebana on Halsted, Margot is a dedicated educator and an active member of the North American Ohara Teachers Association. Her expertise is frequently sought after by the Chicago Public Library, the Chicago Park District, various universities, and private organizations, where she conducts demonstrations and workshops to spread the art of Ikebana.
Her acclaimed arrangements have been showcased at prestigious venues and events, including: The Chicago Botanic Garden and Morton Arboretum, The Arts Club of Chicago, The Ginza and Japan Festivals, and the 2025 Ikebana International World Convention. Beyond her floral mastery, Margot shares her passion for horticulture as a docent for the Lincoln Park Conservancy.
Thursday, October 15, 2026
TBD
7:00 PM Lecture | Members – Free | Non-Members $5 | Pre-Registration Required | Limited Spaces Available
Thursday, November 19, 2026
Nick Esthus, Garden Grounds & Facilities Manager
7:00 PM Lecture | Members – Free | Non-Members $5 | Pre-Registration Required | Limited Spaces Available
A Year in Review
Join Nick Esthus as he discusses the “insider’s view” of Anderson Japanese Gardens. Nick will look back at the many factors that influenced the Garden over the last twelve months. He will share the routine and not-so-routine, from winter to fall, weather patterns, and special projects – they all have an impact on the Garden.
Nick Esthus is the Garden Grounds and Facilities Manager at Anderson Japanese Gardens. Nick first started working in Japanese gardens in 2011 when he took over head Japanese Garden duties at the Memphis Botanic Garden’s Seijaku-en. In 2016, he moved to Texas to further his career at the Fort Worth Botanic Garden’s Japanese garden where he worked closely with John Powell, a prominent Japanese garden expert, to develop maintenance schedules, new garden features and to create a plan for future tree planting and garden projects. In the summer of 2023, Nick joined Anderson Japanese Gardens to replace longtime garden curator Tim Gruner, and to lead the garden crew through creative collaboration and a strong sense of teamwork. Mr. Esthus attended the 2013 Japanese Garden Intensive Seminar in Kyoto Japan where he visited and studied many gardens under top garden professionals and academics. A native of central Ohio and a proud Buckeyes fan, Nick attended The Ohio State University and holds a Bachelor’s degree in Landscape Horticulture.
Thursday, April 16, 2026
Roy Diblick, Perennial Garden Designer and Author of The Know Maintenance Perennial Garden
7:00 PM Lecture | Members – Free | Non-Members $5 | Pre-Registration Required | Limited Spaces Available
Understanding and Planting Pollinator Gardens
This lecture offers and overview of pollinator gardens, focusing on plants that support pollinators, basic garden design principles, planting methods, and ongoing stewardship. The presentation will also introduce common pollinators and discuss their role in healthy ecosystems. Information about a hands-on pollinator garden workshop later this spring will be provided.
2025 Lecture Series – View on Youtube
Thursday, March 20, 2025
Tim Gruner, Garden Curator & Head of Horticulture
7:00 PM Lecture | Members – Free | Non-Members $5 | Pre-Registration Required | Limited Spaces Available
Main Gate 25th Anniversary
2025 marks the 25th anniversary of the building of the Main Gate at Anderson Japanese Gardens. Join Curator Tim Gruner as he shares images, video, and recollections of this remarkable construction and landscape project.
Tim Gruner graduated from Kishwaukee College’s Horticulture program in 1987. After graduation, he spent one year as a horticultural intern at Chicago Botanic Garden followed by a year as a grower for the All-American Selection trial at Kishwaukee College. He began working at Anderson Japanese Gardens in 1989 and eventually worked his way up to Garden Curator. He oversees all construction and horticulture activities within the Gardens. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of the North American Japanese Garden Association.
Thursday, April 17, 2025
Michael Cousineau
7:00 PM Lecture | Members – Free | Non-Members $5 | Pre-Registration Required | Limited Spaces Available
Cutting Ranjatai: The History of Japan Reflected in Incense
The story of the Japanese art of incense has at its beginnings the most famous piece of fragrant wood in the incense world: Ranjatai. A national treasure of Japan, pieces of this famous incense have been cut only three times in its 1400-year existence. In this talk, we’ll examine the intertwining of Japanese history and incense through three individuals for whom Ranjatai was cut, Ashikaga Yoshimasa, Oda Nobunga, and Emperor Meiji.
Michael Cousineau is the founder of Kikoh Incense, one of North America’s largest retailers of Japanese incense. His new book, The Fragrant Path, offers a rare look into the Japanese art of incense in the first in-depth English-language book on the subject in nearly three decades.
Thursday, May 22, 2025
Mami Takahashi
7:00 PM Lecture | Members – Free | Non-Members $5 | Pre-Registration Required | Limited Spaces Available
Nature and Seasons in Rimpa Paintings
The Rimpa School was a key part of the Edo period (1615-1868) revival of indigenous Japanese artistic interests. Rimpa artists decorated paintings, textiles, ceramics, and lacquerware with vibrant colors applied in a highly decorative and patterned manner. They are known for simple natural subjects such as birds, plants, and flowers, with a background filled in with gold leaf. By looking at images of samples of Rimpa paintings and lacquer works, Japanese art scholar Mami Takahashi will showcase this dynamic style of art from 17-19th centuries in Japan.
Mami Takahashi received her MFA in Contemporary Studio Practice from Portland State University and earned a BFA in Japanese Painting from Joshibi University of Art and Design in Japan. She has been a research artist and scholar at various places, including the University of Oregon, focusing on the conceptual understanding of Japanese aesthetics. Her artwork has also been collected and exhibited internationally.
Thursday, June 19, 2025
Professor Kimiko Gunji
7:00 PM Lecture | Members – Free | Non-Members $5 | Pre-Registration Required | Limited Spaces Available
Wagashi by the Season
Seasonality is one of the unique and distinguished features of Japanese culture and aesthetics. The four seasons are reflected in many of the Japanese art forms, such as literature, architecture, and cuisine, as well as in many other facets of daily life. Celebrating the seasons extends to the world of wagashi. Professor Gunji will introduce her new book, Wagashi, season by season, and show how beautifully each season is captured in the array of wagashi.
Professor Gunji has been a regular presenter and lecturer for the Anderson Japanese Garden since 2012. She has given season-by-season tea ceremony demonstrations, and various Japanese art-related workshops such as wagashi (Japanese sweet) making, kimono dressing, and Japanese cooking. She was a special presenter for the Regional North American Japanese Garden Association seminar, Kokoro and the Gardener: Health for Spirit, Body, and Community hosted by the Anderson Japanese Garden from August 4th through August 8th, 2022.
Thursday, July 17, 2025
Ken Brown
7:00 PM Lecture | Members – Free | Non-Members $5 | Pre-Registration Required | Limited Spaces Available
The Winding Path of Japanese Garden History
The Lecture explores Japanese gardens as an evolving art form that, in the past centruy, has continued to develop in international or transnartional spaces. It proposes that we no longer think of Japanese gardens in terms of an original, ahistorical and authenticd style, where modern “copies” may deviate in “inaunthenticity”. Instead, the talk treats Japanese gardens as a dynamic process of evolution in response to evolving needs. In this way, modern gardens – whether somewhere in Japan or in Rockford or wherever – constitute important new evolutionary steps within a set of fluid ideas.
Kendall Brown is emeritus Professor of Asian Art History at California State University Long Beach. He publishes actively in several areas of Japanese art and has organizaed exhibitions for several American museums, exploring topics from modern woodblock prints to Art Deco. He is a leading figure in the study of Japanese gardens in North America, having published three books on the topic. In 2011, he co-founded the North American Japanese Garden Association.
Thursday, August 21, 2025
Adam Kern
7:00 PM Lecture | Members – Free | Non-Members $5 | Pre-Registration Required | Limited Spaces Available
Haiku: A Frog’s-eye View
The Haiku today is the world’s most widely recognized and practiced verse form. Most accounts treat it from a bird’s-eye view, as a kind of traditional Japanese micro poetry, expressed in plainspoken language and concrete nature imagery rooted in the season, particularly in their evanescence, crystalizing an intensely perceived moment into a mere seventeen syllables to paradoxically profound, even philosophical effect. Yet upon closer inspection, there has been a far greater variety of seventeen-syllable verses, ranging from the refined to the ribald, the madcap to the meditative. By introducing the sweep of these modes- including the erotic, funny, satirical, crude, and mischievous I aim to help you develop a more ground-up understanding of if not appreciation for, this broadly misunderstood verse form and its relationship to the natural world.
Adam L. Kern began stumbling along on his haiku journey as a high-school exchange student outside of Tokyo, waddling on as author of The Penguin Book of Haiku (London: Penguin Classics, 2018). In the interim, he studied Japanese literature at the University of Minnesota, then Harvard, joining the faculty for nearly a decade, before settling down as a Professor of Japanese Literature and Visual Culture at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he still professes.
Thursday, September 18, 2025
Paul Tzirides, Shihandai
7:00 PM Lecture | Members – Free | Non-Members $5 | Pre-Registration Required | Limited Spaces Available
Live by the Sword: The Value of Traditional Japanese Swordsmanship in the Modern World
Paul Tzirides began training in Mugai Ryu Iaihyodo in 2001 under the 12th Soke of Mugai Ryu, Nakatani Gitaro, in the lineage from Tsuji Gettan Sukemochi. He has traveled to Japan on numerous occasions to train with Nakatani Soke, as well as teachers and students from Japan and around the world. He currently holds the rank of Shihandai in the Mugai Ryu Iaihyodo Ryuōkai, a federation of dojos around the world, all connected to the main lineage of Mugai Ryu. He and the students of the Chicago Shibu regularly participate in cultural and community events to engage with interested people and spread awareness of this ancient and beautiful style.
Thursday, October 16, 2025
Robert Chenoweth, Founder of The Gyotaku & Founder of The PaperFin Inkless Fish Printing
7:00 PM Lecture | Members – Free | Non-Members $5 | Pre-Registration Required | Limited Spaces Available
An Introduction to Gyotaku
Robert Chenoweth is a Gyotaku instructor at the Japanese Culture Center in Chicago, IL, where he is dedicated to preserving and innovating the traditional Japanese art of fish printing. As a keynote speaker, he shares his expertise on both Gyotaku and the global art market. In addition to his work as an educator and speaker, Robert is an avid art collector and dealer with a passion for connecting people to unique and meaningful works.
He also blended his passion for Gyotaku with his experience as an angler to create PaperFin – a modern, mess-free approach to fish printing. The PaperFin Inkless Fish Printing Kits are designed to make Gyotaku more accessible to beginners, educators, and families by eliminating the need for traditional inks and studio setups.
Thursday, November 20, 2025
Tim Gruner, Garden Curator & Head of Horticulture
7:00 PM Lecture | Members – Free | Non-Members $5 | Pre-Registration Required | Limited Spaces Available
A Year in Review
Join Tim Gruner as he discusses the “insider’s view” of Anderson Japanese Gardens. Gruner will look back at the many factors that influenced the Garden over the last twelve months. He will share the routine and not-so-routine, from winter to fall, weather patterns, and special projects – they all have an impact on the Garden.
Tim Gruner graduated from Kishwaukee College’s Horticulture program in 1987. After graduation, he spent one year as a horticultural intern at Chicago Botanic Garden followed by a year as a grower for the All-American Selection trial at Kishwaukee College. He began working at Anderson Japanese Gardens in 1989 and eventually worked his way up to Garden Curator. He oversees all construction and horticulture activities within the Gardens. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of the North American Japanese Garden Association.
Thursday, July 18, 2024
Charo D’Etcheverry, Professor of Classical Japanese Literature. Chair, Department of Asian Languages and Cultures. Director, International Learning Community.
7:00 PM Lecture | Members – Free | Non-Members $5 | Pre-Registration Required | Limited Spaces Available