An equal mixture of art, care and life provide the balanced groundwork for the main concept of Tanpopo no Ye in the hilly suburbs of Nara CIty. This non-profit organization was initially founded in 1973 and received a government permit in 1976.  The first one-story facility opened for service in 1980 and the organization has been growing steadily ever since.  In it’s published agency flyer, Tanpopo no Ye’s mission (translated to English) is “to develop various enterprises to ask about social significance of art and culture of human rights on the theme of social inclusion.”

Tanpopo no Ye is under the umbrella of the Wataboshi No Kai Welfare Corporation who’s vision is “to find and propose future communities where not only people with disabilities but also all people can enrich their lives.” In 2004 the HANA Art Center on the campus of Tanpopo no Ye opened.  It is a large; two-story contemporary building that mixes exposed concrete walls with shiny wood floors and plenty of giant windows in an exquisitely bright atmosphere.  It houses a gorgeous art gallery, gift shop, café station, numerous semi-private art studios and congregate work spaces, a pottery and clay studio, a large kiln room, a room with a dozen weaving looms, a yarn dying station and the ultimate in universally designed, accessible restrooms.  And that is just the first floor!  The second floor has meeting rooms, conference rooms, a presentation space and a resource library.  Beyond the public spaces are offices for the 17 employees and numerous volunteers.  The building is even equipped with a large storage area, one that would make any museum curator jealous.

In several meetings throughout the day, we gathered with various staff members and artists to work out the details of the ARTLINK Japan exchange exhibit to take place in June and July of 2007 in St. Petersburg, Florida.  The exhibit will have an opening reception at The Florida Craftsmen Gallery located at 501 Central Avenue on June 15, 2007 from 6pm to 9pm.

We selected artwork from recent ARTLINK projects at Tanpopo no Ye and also added works from the talented members and staff.  The excitement about this collaboration continues to mount.  The artwork is superb; many mediums will be represented from altered books to contemporary paintings to resin sculptures. It is difficult to describe the intense feelings of joy and acceptance that I experience every time I am in the presence of staff members from this organization. There is a clear community of teamwork here, where the notion is employed that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. I have observed staff and volunteers to work from 6AM to 8PM without a complaint.  At the welcoming dinner where employees worked together to prepare us one of the best meals of my lifetime, I asked one of the staff members, K.K., if everyone always gets along, and he smiled and shook his head wildly.  He said to me “there are many times when there are differences of thoughts, but we honor each others’ ideas. We have much fun but take work as serious.” What a great leadership mantra.

It was a perfect day for me, thank you Tanpopo no Ye for making my job as a curator so easy, and for once again inspiring me to do more, be more and live more. 

If you want to further investigate Tanpopo no Ye, I invite you to visit their website at http://www.popo.or.jp.