Special naming opportunities (see below) in our new Cultural Village, give you, your family, or your organization the chance to showcase and commemorate your support for Portland Japanese Garden. In addition, all donations to the Cultural Crossing Campaign of $10,000 and above will be recognized on a permanent donor wall at the new Tanabe Welcome Center.
For more information, please email ceisenfeld@japanesegarden.org or call (503) 542-0281.
Naming Opportunities
Opportunities Over $1 Million
Cultural Village … $10 Million
In Japan, the approaches to a major temple or shrine are often lively areas where visitors and pilgrims partake of services that frame their experience. These monzenmachi evolved over centuries, reflecting the evolving needs of visitors. Today’s visitors to Portland Japanese Garden are seeking 21st century amenities, expanded educational offerings, a place to enjoy Japanese tea with each other and the opportunity to shop for authentic Japanese arts and crafts.
All of this is now possible in the new Cultural Village situated adjacent to the original garden. The three LEED-certified buildings clustered around a central pedestrian-only courtyard are designed to provide a frame for the garden and the surrounding native forest. With sliding glass walls and intentionally interconnected spaces, Architect Kengo Kuma describes the Village as a floating roof to shelter people as they pursue a variety of activities.
Included in the Village are the following:
- Yanai Classroom for lectures and classes about Japanese gardens, arts and culture
- Lemelson Studio and two garden workshops to accommodate the various garden-related classes in pruning, Nobedan stone-paving, bamboo fence-building, ikebana, and bonsai
- Jane Stimson Miller Living Room and Cathy Rudd Cultural Corner providing gathering space, tatami platform, and seating for daily demonstrations and performances such as tea ceremony and koto or shamisen concerts
- Tanabe Gallery for rotating exhibitions of Japanese arts and crafts
- Atsuhiko and Ina Goodwin Tateuchi Foundation Courtyard provides outdoor performance and exhibition opportunities along with multiple gathering areas under the Village buildings’ eaves with views of the original garden, new tsubo-niwa garden and the impressive Zagunis Castle Wall built by a 15th generation castle-wall stonemason from Japan
- Ellie M. Hill Bonsai Terrace exhibits a rotating seasonal display of beautiful bonsai
- Umami Café serving curated selections of Japanese tea and snacks
- Garden Gift Shop offering Japanese arts, crafts, and educational materials
- Vollum Library with its collection of over 2,500 books about Japanese gardens in Japanese and English
- Bill de Weese Chabana Research Garden growing native Japanese wildflowers for use in tea ceremony
The International Japanese Garden Training Center … $5 Million
The International Japanese Garden Training Center takes an innovative approach in its teaching of the interdependence of garden design, culture, and art. It serves the urgent need for professional training for future garden professionals in more than 300 other public Japanese-style gardens throughout North America. The Center focuses on traditional cultural arts such as ikebana, bonsai, tea ceremony, and calligraphy to teach the essential elements of Japanese design and provide the unique cultural context needed for a deep understanding of Japanese gardens. It will serve professionals and amateurs, locally, nationally and internationally, who are passionately interested in Japanese gardens.
Garden House … $5 Million
The second-largest building in the Cultural Village, the Garden House is the heart of gardening work and hands-on educational offerings. The first floor contains the Lemelson Studio and two additional workshop areas for teaching gardening skills such as pruning, Nobedan stone-paving, bamboo fence-building, and bonsai. The Garden Curator and the gardeners have their offices and breakroom on the second floor.
Entry Plaza … $2 Million
For 50 years, the Garden has existed without any real sense of arrival. The Entry Plaza will entice Washington Park visitors with a remarkable series of cascading lotus ponds and an ethereal Tanabe Welcome Center. Here, visitors will begin to see the interplay of Japanese design and native plant materials as the hillside ascends and begin their personal journey to the Garden via the antique gate and hillside pedestrian path or accessible shuttle.
Garden Gift Shop … $1 Million
Previously, the Garden Gift Shop occupied 168 sq. ft. in the Garden while generating over $1,000,000 each year, which was an important source of financial support for the Garden. Now moved into its beautiful new space in the Cultural Village, the elegant Gift Shop offers a greatly expanded range of Japanese arts and crafts and educational materials.
Opportunities from $500k-$1 Million
Arrival Plaza … $750,000
Visitors who choose the Shuttle Bus to ascend the hillside will arrive in this plaza. The massive Zagunis Castle Wall rises up underneath lush native forest on one side. On the other side, the welcoming architecture of the Jordan Schnitzer Japanese Arts Learning Center and Garden House frame the approach to the Cultural Village and Garden’s entrance. The Fukuta Concierge office alongside the Garden House is open to answer questions. Once visitors have completed their visit, benches under protective eaves provide a resting place while they briefly wait for the Shuttle Bus to return them to the Entry Plaza.
Opportunities under $500k
Garden House Workshop … $400,000
This space will accommodate smaller garden workshops for 10-15 students or can be used as a contiguous space with the Lemelson Studio for larger workshops or outdoor exhibitions.
Gardeners’ Office Suite … $250,000
Overlooking the Cultural Village and adjacent to the Garden Curator’s Terrace, are the offices for the gardening staff. Senior gardeners will have their own offices and there will be multiple workstations for the other gardeners.
Garden House Break Room … $200,000
A meeting area for the gardening and garden curatorial staff, this area also functions as a break room with a kitchenette for all staff working in the Learning Center, Garden House, and Umami Café. In good weather, activity in the break room naturally flows onto the adjoining Garden Curator’s Terrace.
Kimono Room … $150,000
Tea ceremony has always been practiced and taught at Portland Japanese Garden. The kimono room adjacent to the Yanai Classroom is designed for kimono robing for students and teachers of tea ceremony.
Welcome Center Office … $150,000
This office will be located in the admissions pavilion along Kingston Avenue and will serve the admissions manager and staff who welcome visitors and sell tickets in the Welcome Center.
Endowed Positions
Garden Curator … $2 Million
Chief Executive Officer … $2 Million
Curator of Culture, Art, and Education … Arlene Schnitzer
Committed Sponsors
Jordan Schnitzer Japanese Arts Learning Center
Arlene Schnitzer in honor of Jordan Schnitzer
Ellie Murrah Hill Bonsai Terrace
Travers Hill Polak
Jane Stimson Miller Living Room
Prudence Miller
Tanabe Welcome Center
Drs. Calvin and Mayho Tanabe
Tanabe Gallery
Drs. Calvin and Mayho Tanabe
Zagunis Castle Wall
Robert & Deborah Zagunis
Arlene Schnitzer Curator of Culture, Art, and Education
Arlene Schnitzer
Yanai Classroom
Yanai Family
Umami Café by Ajinomoto
Ajinomoto Group
Sheila Edwards-Lienhart Pathway Bridge
Ross Lienhart
Jubitz Oregon Terrace
Gail & Fred Jubitz
The Jerome and Dorothy Lemelson Garden Studio
Dorothy Lemelson
Atsuhiko and Ina Goodwin Tateuchi Foundation Courtyard
Tateuchi Foundation
Vollum Library
Dorie & Larry Vollum
Cathy Rudd Cultural Corner
Cathy & Jim Rudd
Dr. Franklin D. Piacentini Executive Suite and Terrace
Dorothy Piacentini
Fukuta Concierge Office
Yoko Fukuta
Bill de Weese Chabana Garden
The de Weese Family
Crumpacker Garden Curator’s Terrace
Anne & James F. Crumpacker Family
Robert W. Franz Garden Curator’s Suite
Robert W. Franz
Lixil MEP Suite
LIXIL Group
Cultural Village Benches
Family of David Easly, Family of Mildred & Morris Schnitzer, Stephen & Melissa Babson, Wayne & Julie Drinkward, Family of Mark & Doris Storms