Past Projects
Pacific Bonsai Museum has undertaken innovative initiatives that push the boundaries of bonsai as a contemporary art form. While these projects are no longer active, we’ve preserved their content as a resource for those interested in our museum’s history and experimental approach to bonsai.
THE LAB (Living ART OF BONSAI)
2018–2020
The LAB was a groundbreaking, four-part collaborative project that challenged traditional bonsai practices by exploring:
- The creative possibilities of resequencing the collaboration process
- The influence of inspired architectural settings
- Innovation in bonsai design through interdisciplinary dialogue
Rather than starting with a styled tree and asking the pot and stand makers to respond (as traditionally practiced), The LAB asked: What if the stand comes first? Or the pot? Where can these makers take the art of bonsai if they influence each other in an entirely new way?
The Team
- Bonsai Artist: Ryan Neil, Bonsai Mirai
- Ceramic Artist: Ron Lang, Lang Bonsai Containers
- Standmaker: Austin Heitzman, Austin Heitzman Furniture
- Facilitator: Aarin Packard, Curator, Pacific Bonsai Museum
The Sessions
The LAB unfolded across four distinctive sessions, each held in architecturally significant spaces:
- Spaces of Liminality – Griggs House designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, Tacoma, WA (August 2018)
- The Site of Bonsai – Wollochet House designed by Mary Lund Davis, Gig Harbor, WA (April 2019)
- Exploration & Inquiry – Fauntleroy & Junsei Houses designed by George Suyama, Seattle (August 2019)
- Final Reveal – Pacific Bonsai Museum, Federal Way, WA (August 2020)