About Us

Nestled amidst towering conifers, Pacific Bonsai Museum connects people to nature through the living art of bonsai.

One of only two museums in the United States solely dedicated to bonsai, and one of only a handful of bonsai museums worldwide, Pacific Bonsai Museum maintains a collection of 150 bonsai that are among the finest examples of bonsai anywhere in the world. The collection is also the most geographically diverse bonsai collection in the United States, with trees from Canada, China, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, and the United States.

A grand outdoor setting with the elegance of a fine art museum, Pacific Bonsai Museum features sixty trees on exhibit at a given time, open to the public six days a week. This cultural gem offers contemporary and traditional bonsai exhibitions, group tours, education program, field trips, and public events.

Pacific Bonsai Museum is a World Bonsai Friendship Federation Cooperation Center. The WBFF seeks to raise awareness of the existence of public bonsai institutions and to strengthen the relationships among them by providing a network for support of bonsai through an active exchange of information and activities.

Answers to Frequently Asked Questions about the Museum can be found on our Plan Your Visit page.

Museum Mission

The Pacific Bonsai Museum connects people to nature through the living art of bonsai.

HISTORY

Weyerhaeuser Company opened the Collection in 1989, in conjunction with the Washington State Centennial celebration. The Collection was established to symbolize Weyerhaeuser’s long-term commitments to its customers, its community, and its forest resources. The Museum was designed by Hoshide Wanzer Architects and The Berger Partnership.

At the end of 2013 the corporation gifted the entire collection to a new non-profit, The George Weyerhaeuser Pacific Rim Bonsai Collection, known as the Pacific Bonsai Museum.

Photo: George Weyerhaeuser and former first lady of Washington Jean Gardner at the opening of the Pacific Rim Bonsai Collection in 1989.

We are an anti-racist organization

We believe racial equity is a human right. We support the work of Black Lives Matter and the Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) movement.

As we sit here on the land of the Coast Salish people, we thank the original caretakers of this land who are still here. We acknowledge that this declaration against racism is long overdue (which we realize means way before these past few weeks). We regret not showing up to this conversation earlier and promise to do better in the future.

We have committed to actively evaluating museum systems, structures, and practices so that we don’t reinforce discriminatory outcomes in the future. We seek to include more BIPOC voices and participation in our work. We are also organizing anti-biases training for staff.

We have educated ourselves about the trauma experienced particularly by Japanese Americans when they were subject to racist U.S. government policies that robbed them of their liberty and livelihoods–including the bonsai masters who laid the seeds of the art as it is practiced in this country. We are grateful that despite their understandable resentment and reluctance, appreciation for the art of bonsai spread all over the world because these people found the strength to share their art with others which ended up forming new friendships and promoting healing.

Pacific Bonsai Museum is committed to inclusivity with our visitors, volunteers, members, and supporters. We know that awe, peace, love, and admiration of bonsai and nature are not finite. Rather, these feelings only grow stronger the more people are included. We welcome everyone to discover the art and beauty of bonsai.

We remain dedicated to our mission–to connect people to nature through the living art of bonsai–knowing that as an anti-racist organization, we have work to do, and we are committed to doing it.

Our People

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Kit Severson

Board Chair

Read Kit's bio

guided by: listening, thoughtfulness, community-engagement

Kit is energized by the new American bonsai movement and is captivated by the beauty and tranquility of Pacific Bonsai Museum’s collection. She believes in community engagement which has led her to serve on the Boards of several non-profit organizations over the past 25 years, including the Children’s Museum of Tacoma, Charles Wright Academy Board, Tacoma Art Museum, Greater Tacoma Community Foundation, and now Pacific Bonsai Museum. Art and craft are in her blood, having been raised in the world of architecture and landscape design. She studied fiber arts in college and is an avid weaver, knitter, and art collector (particularly of works by PNW women). She enjoys gardening and spending time outdoors every day.

Judy Wagner

Vice President

Read Judy's bio

guided by: honor to her commitments; respect for others and for organizations in which she participates; a love of art

Since the day she accepted dual invitations from her brother-in-law, George Weyerhaeuser and Chair, Kit Severson to join the Pacific Bonsai Museum Board, Judy has delighted in her education in “the fascinating and beautiful art form of bonsai.” She particularly admires the devotion of Museum volunteers and finds herself energized by their for-the-love-of-doing-it motivation. In addition to Pacific Bonsai Museum, Judy currently serves on the Board of Lakewold Gardens. Her past Board participation includes organizations such as the Charles Wright Academy, NW Trek Wildlife Park, and the YWCA, among others. Before her recent retirement, Judy co-owned the Sandpiper Gallery that she ran for 30 years in downtown Tacoma; but before turning fully to art, she had her own practice as a dental hygienist. Judy was born in Wyoming and moved to Washington with her family before heading off to New York City as a college student to major in Chemistry. Judy is athletic and loves movement-meditation practices. She enjoys daily swims, which she has done nearly every day for the past three years. When she’s not swimming, rowing, skiing, or biking, you may find her studying music, painting, or participating in her regular french conversation group.

Mary Gates

Secretary

Read Mary's bio

guided by: arts, community, equity, quality of life

Mary Gates became enamored with Pacific Bonsai Museum’s breathtaking setting and contemplative collection while serving as Mayor of the City of Federal Way, creating video messages from the collection to send to officials in Federal Way’s sister City of Hachinohe, Japan. In addition to serving the community as an elected official, she has also been an educator at several universities, a small business owner, and an arts nonprofit Executive Director. Mary concurrently serves on the Boards of Pacific Bonsai Museum, the Federal Way Performing Arts Foundation, and the City of Federal Way Qualib, and is a member of the Federal Way Rotary and the American Association of University Women. When she’s not fighting for equity in finance, transportation, and land-use planning, or bolstering the South Sound’s cultural assets, you might find her enjoying a Seahawks game, spending time with family, gardening, or flying a kite.

Sheri Tonn

Treasurer

Read Sheri's bio

guided by: sustainability, restorative environmental justice, antiracism

Sheri is excited about the beauty of bonsai and Pacific Bonsai Museum as a place of solitude and reflection in our hectic lives. She recently retired from her position of Professor of Chemistry at Pacific Lutheran University (PLU) where, since 1979, she taught, led international study trips, and supervised student-led research. She also served PLU as the Vice President of Finance and Operations (overseeing the university’s budget, endowment, risk management, real estate, facilities, campus master planning, dining and other auxiliary services) and served as both Dean of Natural Sciences and Dean of Information Resources. Sheri was the founding Board Chair of AASHE (Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education) and Citizens for a Healthy Bay. She is the past Chair of the Greater Tacoma Community Foundation and the current Chair of the Washington State Board of Pilotage Commissioners. In addition to Pacific Bonsai Museum, Sheri has served on the Boards of several other environmental and conservation organizations including the Tacoma Pierce County American Leadership Foundation and the Puget Sound Section of the American Chemical Society. She is an avid SCUBA diver, and also enjoys canoeing and alpine mountain climbing.

Christine Anderson

Director

Read Christine's bio

guided by: integrity, equality, honesty, kindness

Christine was first drawn to bonsai from the perspective of horticultural science but has developed a lasting fascination with it as a form of living art. She holds a Master’s degree in Education, a Bachelor of Science degree in occupational therapy, and has worked on state licensure and certifications of personnel working in schools. She is also a GCA Approved Judge in Horticulture and a Pierce County Master Gardener. When she’s not volunteering with one of many local arts and horticultural organizations, you can probably find her growing fruits and vegetables in her large garden, testing recipes for a nationally distributed cooking magazine, or fishing in Alaska.

Anthony Fajarillo

Director

Read Anthony's bio

guided by: the golden rule; optimism; creativity; big visions realized through incremental gains

Tony is a passionate bonsai artist and plant lover. He was drawn to trees for their natural beauty and peaceful-producing aesthetic qualities but is also purpose-driven on a mission to connect people and communities through bonsai. Tony is the current President of the Puget Sound Bonsai Association (PSBA) and owner of his own construction and landscaping company, Redwood Builders LLC. He graduated from the University of Washington with a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering. Tony enjoys studying martial arts, digging deeper into Japanese garden design, drawing, and spending time with his wife of 29 yrs and their two daughters. In his free moments, he writes a bonsai blog at Bonsaiko.com and hopes to publish a book in the near future.

Mark Haley

Director

Read Mark's bio

guided by: problem-solving; searching for viable long-term solutions to issues.

Mark appreciated art from an early age, and for a period, created, sold, and installed his own art. Though he knew little about bonsai when he was asked to serve on the Pacific Bonsai Museum Board, he knew and respected George Weyerhaeuser since his teens and he felt he could be of service after 40 years of serving on arts boards in the area. Mark’s business career has ranged from entrepreneur to manager of a mid-sized confectionery company. With a focus on developing and implementing aggressive strategic plans, he grew productivity exponentially and reinvested the proceeds into expanding markets both nationally and in 37 foreign markets. From 2003-04, he served as Interim Exec. Dir. of Bellevue Arts Museum, ushering the organization from closure to stability by returning the museum to its core competency, rebuilding the board of directors, raising $1.5 million for a building remodel, and completing a successful personal search to attract and hire an internationally recognized Executive Director/Curator. With that large undertaking wrapped up, he turned towards building an export business for the largest savory snack company in the PNW. Using a new business model of partnering with local snack companies in foreign markets, the business grew within 3 years from exports to a single foreign market to sales in 17 markets on 3 continents. Mark holds an M.B.A from the Stanford Graduate School of Business and a B.A. in French Literature from Dartmouth College. In addition to serving on Pacific Bonsai Museum’s Board, he has enjoyed serving multiple organizations in a variety of positions throughout his professional and civic life.

Grant Rauzi

Director

Read Grant's bio

guided by: organizational excellence, collaboration, trust, transparency

Grant was initially drawn to the beauty and mystery of bonsai but over the years has learned that bonsai—an art based on precision, discipline, focus, awareness, commitment, and continual learning—is the perfect platform for education and self-discovery. He is also a Past-President of the Puget Sound Bonsai Association. Grant enjoys teamwork. When he’s not training bonsai, Grant is a senior management consultant with extensive leadership experience in both the public and private sector, including Microsoft, other technology and biomedical Fortune 100 companies, biomedical corporations, and the City of Seattle. His expertise is in project management, risk mitigation, business transformation, process improvement, and is a certified Six Sigma Black Belt. Grant participated in the Senior Security Executive Leadership Program at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. He holds an M.B.A. from Golden Gate University, and a B.A. in Zoology from the University of California, Davis. He is a Past-President of the 900+ member San Francisco Chapter of the American Society for Quality (ASQ) and is an ASQ Certified Manager of Quality/Organizational Excellence. Grant serves on the adjunct faculty of Northwest University, and his community service has included leadership roles with YMCA Youth Programs, Kiwanis/Key Club, and J.R.O.T.C./R.O.T.C. recognition awards.