Schools, Teachers, & Classes
If you are interested in learning Ikebana, we have local instructors who are actively teaching individuals and groups, and can can also present demonstrations. Our active teachers are listed according to their school below. If you would like to connect with our instructors as an individual or representing a group, please fill out our contact form or email us at ikebanasarasota@gmail.com.
The Sogetsu Study Group is a group affiliated with the Sogetsu School of Ikebana. The Study Group meets monthly on Wednesdays at the Sarasota Gulf Gate Library. If you are a newcomer to the group, you are welcome to attend as an observer for your first session for free. If you would like to partcipate as an ongoing member of the group, dues for the year are $20. Please find the schedule for 2023-2024 Sogetsu Study Group sessions below.
Schools of Ikebana
There are many schools of Ikebana and each one is unique in its approach. The list below gives information about the schools represented in the Sarasota area.
SOGETSU
The Sogetsu School of Ikebana was started in 1927 by the founder Sofu Teshigahara who questioned the traditions of ikebana and preferred to respect the freedom of individual expressions.
“Anytime, anywhere, by anyone,” — and with any materials — is the creed of the Sogetsu School. Today, under the 4th Iemoto, Akane Teshigahara, the Sogetsu Ikebana is popular around the world as a school of Ikebana that draws out the freedom of expression in each individual, always new, always beautiful, and never constrained by preconceptions. (Ikebana International)
Active Teachers
Patricia Bonarek (Sarasota, FL)
Gwen Lawry (Sarasota, FL)
Leslie Wier (Venice, FL)
Aimee Jackson (St. Petersburg, FL)
Sogetsu Study Group Session Dates
September 20, 2023
October 25, 2023
November 15, 2023
December 20, 2023
January 24, 2024
February 28, 2024
March 27, 2024
April 24, 2024
All sessions start at 10am at the Sarasota Gulf Gate Library
Ichiyo
Arrangements in the manner of Ichiyo School are intended to arouse our senses in a different way from traditional ikebana, giving the viewer an experience with nature that is unexpected, stimulating, and profound.
Ichiyo School encourages personal interpretation. Imagination is considered as essential to creative designs as materials and containers. “If flower arranging is to be truly fulfilling, it should be a reflection of oneself.”
The current iemoto, Naohiro Kasuya, specializes in combining materials through a natural balance of their weights, rather than by fastening the materials down with a kenzan or komi. Through balancing the materials, he aims to bring materials and containers together into a mutually cooperative position. (Ikebana International)
Active Teachers
Gail Newman (Sarasota, FL)
Jeanne Houlton (St. Petersburg, FL)
Ohara
Ohara School emphasizes seasonal qualities, natural growth processes, and the beauty of natural environments. Ohara School believes that it is important for its students to observe nature. (Ikebana International)
Active Teachers
Carol Malott (Sarasota, FL)
Susan Thorpe (St. Petersburg, FL)
Ikenobo
Ikenobo is the foundation from which all ikebana descended. With each new ikebana arrangement, Ikenobo continues a tradition of creativity that began over 550 years ago. The Japanese word IKE means“pond,” while the word BO means “a priest’s hut.” Suggesting a priest’s hut next to a pond, the two words combine in the name of the family that has headed this school of IKEBANA, IKE-NO-BO. Succeeding generations of priests were famous for their skill in arranging flowers, and Ikenobo thus became “the origin of Ikebana.”
The Ikenobo school stresses a natural floral arranging style. (Ikebana International)
WAFU
The Wafu School of Ikebana emphasizes natural beauty; that is, respect for the characteristic beauty of flowers and plants in their natural state, season by season. Wafukai arrangers strive for exquisite harmony between the flowers, the container, and the environment in which the arrangement is displayed. With a less restrictive approach to flower arranging than many other schools, the Wafukai philosophy teaches the practitioner to “arrange the flowers that you like – suitably – in a container that you like.” It is a philosophy that respects the artistic sense of the individual arranger, while providing each artist with extensive instruction on the techniques needed for successful creativity. (San Francisco Chapter of Ikebana International)