Richmond Cultural Center
Richmond's Cultural Center will eventually house Richmond's collection of Japanese items and will serve as a venue for classes and meetings. Joining our Tea House is a Japanese teaching garden at our entryway designed by a master gardener that is now under construction.
Japanese Teaching Garden, April
The staff recently met with Sada Uchiyama, Curator of the Portland Japanese Garden and Designer of the Richmond Japanese Teaching Garden, to review the entrance garden and talk about its presence at Richmond. It has been a wonderful experience watching this area transform into its current state. This past weekend, grass was laid in the NW portion of the garden. It looks beautiful. After talking about the purpose and possible uses of this space, staff decided that some guidelines for "garden behavior" may be in order. We are asking parents to refrain from having their children walk along the brick ledges that surround the garden. We want to create a sense of welcome in the garden but also a sense of respect and care. Many of the plants, which were planted recently, are at their baby stages. Your help is appreciated. Also, until the garden matures, we are asking that children do not walk through the garden. Your help and cooperation are appreciated. If you have any input or feedback, please call the office to share your ideas, or contact a member of the Cultural Garden Committee. Thank you.
Japanese Teaching Garden Design
Richmond's entrance, already lined with cherry trees, provides a rare opportunity to highlight the appreciation of nature that permeates Japanese culture. The interconnectedness of constructed and natural space is evident in the language itself. The word for "household," Katei, is composed of two Kanji symbols; Ka for building and tei for garden. Understanding this relationship, the Cultural Center Committee at Richmond, whose mission it is to support culturally based programming, began a discussion with professional Japanese landscape architect and parent of two children in the program, Sadafumi Uchiyama, to design an entrance garden for the front of the school. The resulting garden plan, illustrated below, represents more
than a veneer of Japanese esthetics. It was consciously rendered with four goals in mind. The garden must be:
- Representative of the nature and goal of the immersion program;
- An integral part of the Cultural Center and its mission;
- An authentic cultural representation with teachable moments tied to curriculum; and
- A memorable and meaningful space for students, staff, neighbors, and community.
The garden is conceived of as a "living classroom" and a model for our philosophy of education, providing children with hands-on cultural experiences that offer them quintessential Japanese design elements represented in art, history, poetry and philosophy. Umeboshi (pickled plum) is no longer an abstract concept but can be grown, observed, the subject of a still-life, or the tangible muse for a springtime poem. A grassy area and low benches provide comfortable areas for cherry blossom viewing, outdoor tea ceremony, and an opportunity to observe and integrate the changing seasons into the lesson plan. The design further honors the connection between the Pacific Northwest and Japan, the world's second largest economy, by tying the native Cascade planting to the left of the walk with the classic Japanese rock garden on the right through the use of a conceptual gbridgeh of stone and slate.
While the garden is a sensory transition for students into their school community, it also allows children, families, and staff to foster an interconnectedness to the broader communities of Richmond's neighborhood, Portland's extensive Japanese/Japanese-American community, national immersion program alliances, and international sister schools. Our Japanese garden will be a living, growing context for our studentsf language learning and will serve as a powerful model of our connection to other living things, other groups and other nations. The garden will broaden and deepen our students' understanding of and appreciation for their own culture and the culture of others. It will be an important lens through which our students sense and experience the cultural context of the Pacific Northwest and Japan.
Plans
Construction
The slate path
Laying the stones for the slate path
SG Construction frames and pours concrete for the new steps and upper walkway
Rocks are sited by Mr. Uchiyama
Smith Rock delivers tons of boulders hand selected by landscape designer Sada Uchiyama
Ross NW Watergardens removes sod, grades land, and installs infrastructure for irrigation and lighting
Rose City Flag removes rusty flag pole with one clean cut
Crew of volunteer parents transplant trees and shrubs, remove plants and weeds, and power-wash retaining walls
Panorama of school front before construction begins
Budget for Japanese Teaching Garden
| Plants | $2,500.00 |
| Soil prep (grading, berm construction) | $2,600.00 |
| Stone (15-18 tons) | $1,500.00 (likely to be donated) |
| Stone placement labor | $2,500.00 |
| Slate bridge | $2,000.00 |
| Granite gravel (south garden) | $1,500.00 |
| Concrete work | $4,000.00 |
| Bamboo fencing | $1,000.00 |
| Flag Pole Installation | $9,600.00 |
| Permits for flag poles | $ 500.00 |
| Lighting | $3,000.00 |
| Plumbing for Sprinklers | $2,000.00 |
| Installation of irrigation | $2,400.00 |
| Signage | $ 900.00 |
| Total Estimate | $36,000.00 |
Donations to date
| Nakagawa Family 2005 Grant | $1,000.00 |
| Okada-sensei Memorial Fund 2005 | $ 783.24 |
| Anonymous 2005 | $1,000.00 |
| Anonymous 2005 | $ 905.50 |
| Lucky Seven 2006 Grant | $5,000.00 |
| Schnitzer Care Foundation 2007 Grant | $1,000.00 |
| Lowe's 2007 Grant | $5,000.00 |
| Ota Family Donation 2007 | $ 500.00 |
| O'Brian Family - U-dig 2007 | $ 100.00 |
| PTA Donation 2008 | $7,000.00 |
| Total Financial Contributions | $22,288.74* |
* ONK has verbally committed to a $7,000 donation
In-Kind Donations to date
| Architectural plans by Sada Uchiyama | $4000.00 |
Concrete Quotes
| District Facilities Office | $50,000 - $80,000 |
| SG Construction | $ 9,303 ($7.00/per sq. ft.) |
| Clear Construction Co. | $15,925 ($12.25/per sq. ft.) |
Tea house
The tea house is finally installed at Richmond!! Volunteers Jason Greene and Dave McDonald did a fantastic job thanks to the coordination, painting and encouragement of Richmond parent Cathrine Malone. There are a few details and touch-ups that need to happen before it's ready to be used by Richmond students, but it's looking great and very prominent on the stage in the cafeteria. Please join me in thanking:
- Henjyoji Temple for their gracious donation of the tea house to Richmond
- Richmonds Cultural Committee: Catherine Malone (chair), Linda Insako Angst, David Jacobsen, Yoshiko Kamata, David Komeiji, Meg Matsushima, Monica Mueller, Nina Nakagawa, Amy Osaki, Doug Smith, Sadafumi Uchiyama, Alison Walcott, and
- Oya No Kai for their help with funds to pay for truck rental to move the tea house to Richmond from the Henjyoji Temple.
We're a very fortunate school to have such wonderful support from our community.
Domo arigatou gozaimasu!