SEEING.
SEEDS.
STORIES.
A Seattle
Japanese Garden
60th Anniversary
Exhibit
B y R e b e c c a A l e x a n d e r
a n d C h i e I i d a
"Moon Viewing," by Michelle Kumata.
Th e Seattle Japanese Garden opened to
the public in June of 1960. Today, the
Garden is one of the most highly regarded
Japanese-style gardens in North America and is
visited by over 125,000 visitors from around the
world annually.
In a rapidly growing city, the Garden has
become a place where one can take a moment to
appreciate nature, reconnect with loved ones,
heal, dream and celebrate ordinary elements
in life. Every day hundreds of people walk the
Garden paths, each on their own unique journey.
This August, the Seattle Japanese Garden
and the Elisabeth C. Miller Library will co-host
“Seeing | Seeds | Stories,” an exhibit marking the
60th anniversary of the Garden. It will feature
five local artists portraying the Garden with their
stories. They will each create their own narrative
of the space, expressing through their individual
mediums the unseen moments that make a visit to
the Garden special. The exhibit will also feature
a collection of photographs and other historical
materials from the Garden’s archive.
About the participants
Kathleen Ashby Atkins makes photographs of
many subjects, especially wildlife, botanical life
and architecture. “When I take photographs in
a garden, I absorb the aesthetic of artists who
work directly with plants, soil, rocks, water,
and weather and who bring with them in their
endeavors other human crafts. When I’m in
a garden, I’m not the first or only artist in a
landscape: I walk on a path wrestled out of flux
by a gardener.”
18 v Washington Park Arboretum Bulletin