A rare opportunity has arrived at the UH-Hilo Mo`okini Library: a botanical art exhibit that will remain until April 4.
Thirty-two pieces are in the display, which previously was exhibited in New York and at RBG Kew Gardens in London.
Ten of the illustrations are by Mieko Ishikawa, who received the Diane Bouchier Artist Award for Excellence in Botanical Art from the American Society of Botanical Artists in 2017. Many of the illustrations feature various varieties of cherry blossoms
Prunus pendula Plema-rosea (c) 2001 Mieko Ishikawa
For more on Mieko Ishikawa, please see:
https://www.asba-art.org/article/mieko-ishikawa
or
https://www.jonathancooper.co.uk/artists/89-mieko-ishikawa/biography/
Other featured artists are Fumiko Sugisaki, Michiko Morita, Yoko Kadota, Mieko Konishi, Kumiko Kosuda, Yoko Yokoyama, Hidenari Kobayashi, Akiko Enokido, Machiko Taketa, Miwa Saeki, Takeko Yamamoto, Ryoko Taki, Keiko Nakane, Keiko Fujita, and Tetsuo Koyama.
Paulownia tomentosa (c) 2015 Mieko Ishikawa from the Flora Japonica Exhibition
Camellia japonica var. decumbens ‘Yuki Tsubaki’ (c) Akiko Enokido
Dr. Koyama is a botanist who retired to Hawaii after a career at the New York Botanical Garden and Makino Botanical Garden. He is president of the Hawaii Sakura Foundation, which brought this exhibit to Hilo with the assistance of Professor Masafumi Honda of the UH-Hilo Japanese Studies Program and the library.
Consul General Ito introduced Dr. and Mrs. Tetsuo Koyama at the UH-Hilo library. Dr. Koyama gave a brief history of botanical art
Dr. Koyama was responsible for selecting a variety of cherry tree to be planted in Waimea in 2012 on the occasion of the centennial of cherry tree plantings at the Tidal Basin in Washington DC.
Show sponsors are Tokio Marine Group, First Insurance Company, First Hawaiian Bank, Tony Group Autoplex and the Consulate General of Japan in Honolulu.
Mitch Roth and Russell Kokubun enjoy the exhibit
U.S. Japanese Gardens 