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Some students sit together, while others sit alone in a room of 12 separate tables in Schine Student Center.

As soon as Jia Man walks into the room, that quickly changes. She gestures for the tables and groups to move together. Everyone gets up from their seats and works together to create three long tables. Only then did Jia begin her Ikebana workshop.

“Ikebana should make you feel good or your experience should make you feel good, or both,” Jia said.

Jia, an adjunct professor at Le Moyne College and member of Ikebana International, led an Ikebana flower workshop at Syracuse University Wednesday. The workshop is one of the many events celebrating Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month in April.

Founded in 1956, Ikebana International has 140 chapters in over 40 countries. Jia is a member of the New York chapter, of which she attends an event once a year to practice a variety of Ikebana methods.

Ikebana is rooted in Japanese culture, and focuses on both the natural and spiritual world. Jia quickly creates a demonstration with three different lengths of yellow and white flowers. She pointed to the tallest one and said it represents God, the middle one represents Earth and the shortest represents humans.

Jia explained that Western flower art is more for decoration, but Ikebana is different.

“Japanese Ikebana is not just beauty, it is more zen, thought, philosophy,” Jia said. “Not just like it looks beautiful or is for decoration.”

Jia has taught at Le Moyne for the past seven years and led many Ikebana workshops at SU and in surrounding areas. On top of leading the Ikebana creations, she emphasizes a deeper connection with nature through working with the flowers. Jia has previously led workshops at Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs and SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry.

Students gathered together in Schine Student Center on Wednesday to celebrate Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month with a Ikebana flower workshop. Students selected from a variety of spring flowers and branches, and then positioned the flowers in vases of different shapes and sizes. Ella Chan | Asst. Photo Editor

Elise Christopher is an anthropology major working in SU’s Office of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color Student Success. She and her friend, Annie Xu, both attended the workshop. Xu learned that, when it comes to Ikebana, less is more. The simplicity of the arrangements is what makes them beautiful, she said.

The attendees also learned about the connection between Ikebana and Buddhist practices. Some aspects of the history surprised them.

“I didn’t know only men could do it up to a certain point, so it’s nice to be introduced to a new cultural form,” Christopher said.

Xu said the Ikebana workshop is a nice way to gather people together on campus. She was specifically intrigued by this event because it was an opportunity to do hands-on arts and crafts.

Many students came in groups and, though the event focused on meditation, the room was constantly filled with chatter as students built their flower arrangements. They started by selecting spring flowers and branches, and then positioned the flowers exactly how they wanted.

Students created multiple arrangements focusing on simplistic designs. Jia said overcrowding arrangements with too many colors was distracting, so many students chose one flower as their focus color, and then surrounded it with smaller white or pink flowers in vases of various sizes and colors.

Bettina Talento, an advertising and marketing major, brought her roommate, Rosemary McNulty, to the workshop. They’re graduating soon, so any time they can spend together is valuable, they said.

McNulty is the president of the Filipino Student Association and has been working with the team planning these events. She said the event is important because representation of Asian Americans is still an uphill battle. They spent the event taking pictures of each other’s Ikebana creations.

Jia encourages photography, and combines the art of Ikebana with photography in her work. She designs and arranges the Ikebana art, takes pictures of her creations and then takes them apart. She said the photos allow her to make the fleeting and fragile nature of flowers last forever, since the nature of life itself is imperfect.

“I’m so touched by the beauty, and it’s hard to explain in any language,” Jia said. “I have a conversation at that moment with the flowers or the works I design.”

Jia hoped the workshop would force students to focus on the present and accept these imperfections in life. As a soon-to-be graduating senior, Talento reflected on this sentiment.

“(Jia) said something about how it captures a moment in your life, about how it’s very impermanent, and I think that’s beautiful,” Talento said.

Published on April 17, 2025 at 2:01 am