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The University of Michigan's emergence as a steward of nationally significant bonsai marks an inflexion point in the Academy for engagement with this international art form. While exhibited specimens are inherently focused on both this moment and change, the discipline itself is undergoing renewal in the United States. Today's presentation places this emergent collection in icontemporary academic and cultural contexts, including the necessity of exhibiting outstanding canonical specimens reflective of bonsai's Japanese heritage.

David Michener is the Curator at the UM Matthaei Botanical Gardens and Nichols Arboretum. After receiving his PhD in Botany from the Claremont Graduate School he was at Harvard's Arnold Arboretum before coming to the University of Michigan. He is most widely known for his work on historic peonies. He has been active in the reinterpretation of the Freer House's Garden at Wayne State University.

Carmen Leskoviansky has been caring for the UM Matthaei Botanical Gardens and Nichols Arboretum's Bonsai and Penjing collection since 2011. Her degree in horticulture is from MIchigan State University. Carmen began studying with American bonsai artist Michael Hagedorn, of Crataegus Bonsai, in 2018 and will begin a 3-year apprenticeship in May 2021.

If there is anything we can do to make this event accessible to you, please contact us. Please be aware that advance notice is necessary as some accommodations may require more time for the university to arrange.

Registration for this Zoom event is required: https://umich.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_v-ukyjuuQs2zDUR7MsshEg