Asheville Chapter #74

The founders of the Asheville Chapter of Ikebana International considered organizing in 1963 and hosted a visit by Mrs. Ellen Gordon Allen, the founder of I.I., to discuss this possibility.  They met at the home of Mrs. E.S. Koon with 36 interested individuals who petitioned for the honor of joining. The charter was granted in 1965.  Membership was $7 per year.  They had four business meetings and nine program meetings a year.  There were notes in the file that membership was to be limited to 20 by I.I. Headquarters.  

            The chapter has always been small, but has had some ambitious projects and opportunities.  In May 1965 the chapter co-sponsored with the other U.S. chapters a gift of 150 dogwood trees to be planted in Japan to honor I.I.  A certificate of appreciation signed by the sensei of Ohara, Ikenobo, Sogetsu and Saga schools is in the chapter files. They enjoyed demos by some of the biggest names in Western ikebana; Marvin Neese (publishers of the I.I. magazine) in May 1964 and a nageire workshop by Ellen Gordon Allen (founder of I.I.) in April 1970.  They had exhibitions:  Grove Park Inn in 1967 with 15 designs and a flower show in Hendersonville in 1969 with 17 designs.

Records show that there was an Ikenobo study group in Hendersonville in 1967 that shared programs with the Asheville chapter.  It appears that meetings were also held jointly with the Blue Ridge Chapter of the Ikenobo Ikebana Society.  The Ikenobo Chapter was formally established in 1991.  

By the time that Bettie Madsen arrived in the 1970’s the chapter only had 12 members and the meetings consisted of everyone working independently.  She was asked to teach Ohara at the meetings and also offered weekly classes. 

           When the chapter celebrated its 25^th anniversary on May 31, 1988, hosted by Teddy Bean, there were still four charter members present and active.  At that time they were still meeting at the North Asheville Community Center where they met until this past decade.  It appears that the chapter’s membership peaked at 27 members in 1980 until this decade. 

           Through those years the chapter had exhibits in banks, department stores, Grove Arcade, Grovewood Gallery, Governor’s Western Residence, City Hall, and Fireside Antiques in Biltmore Village.  Since 2002 the chapter has had annual exhibitions at The North Carolina Arboretum in conjunction with the Carolina Bonsai Expo.  This chapter organized “Art in Bloom”for the Black Mountain Center for the Arts in June 2007 and twice offered a day class at the Reuter Center at the University of North Carolina at Asheville in 2005 & 2007.   In 2009 an exhibition and tea was held for Ichiyo School Iemoto Akihiro Kasuya at TNCA.

The North American Regional Conference was held in Asheville in May 2014 with 300 people attending from around the world.   

The chapter is now 50 years old and enjoying a renaissance.  Membership is over 60 and growing.

Here is a list of our Past Presidents:

1964-1965                Mrs. Cedric Stone

1965-1967                Mrs. George Berger

1967-1968                Mrs. Donald Gerdes

1969-1970                Mrs. David Black

1970-1972                Mrs. Henry Nichols

1972-1974                Mrs. Furman Hensley

1976-1978                Mrs. Henry Nichols

1978-1979                Mrs. John Barthel

1976-1978                Mrs. Henry Nichols

1979-1981                Mrs. Raymond Heath

1981-1982                Mrs. Henry Nichols

1982-1984                Mrs. James McHugh

1984-1986                Mrs. Raymond Heath

1986-1988                Mrs. Raymond Myers

1988-1990                Mrs. John Barthel

1990-1992                Mrs. Cyril Bryant

1992-1994                Mrs. Robert Williams

1994-1996                Mrs. Patrick Pierce

1996-1998                Mrs. Raymond Myers

1998-2002                Mrs.. Leo M. Storey, Jr.

2002-2008                Terri Ellis Todd

2008-2009                Mrs. Spencer Robinson

2009- 2014               Patti Quinn Hill

2014 - 2017              Susan Cano

2017 -                                Lynn Forbes