PAPER at the 2010 Seattle Cherry Blossom Festival

This coming weekend, April 16-18, is the 2010 Seattle Cherry Blossom and Japanese Cultural Festival at the Seattle Center. The event will be a rich array of exhibits that will delight all of your senses.

The 2010 festival theme, “After 150 Years: Youth, Skateboarding and Hapa Experience,” celebrates the official ratification of the U.S.-Japan amity treaty. Highlights include:
· Photographic exhibit, “Scenes of Childhood: Sixty Year of Postwar Japan”
· Skateboarding activities and demonstrations by Japan’s Pro-Teen Element team and star skateboarder Ryo Sejiri
· Forum, “Hapa Experience,” exploring the identities, cultural traditions and experiences of Japanese mixed-race, including many prominent local Hapa
· Performance by Nanda, filled with stage combat, juggling and ninja-like acrobatics

And of course, origami! PAPER will have a booth at the festival. We will be teaching visitors young in age and young at heart how to fold flapping cranes and jumping frogs, among other models. We will also have an exhibit of our best pieces on display for the weekend. Look for us in the Fisher Pavilion, next to the Center House.

The hours of the festival are 10:00 am – 6:00 pm Friday and Saturday and 10:00 am – 5:00 pm on Sunday.

Here are directions for how to get to Seattle Center by car, bus, or monorail.

The Fisher Pavilion is number 37 on this map of the Center.

See you at the festival!

PAPER at Sakura-Con 2010

Sakura-Con (pronounced ‘Sa-ku-ra-con) is a Japanese Animation(Anime), manga (comics), gaming, and Asian-culture convention. The convention is being held at the Washington State Convention and Trade Center for Pacific Northwest anime fans, also known as “Otaku”, where the emphasis is on FUN! Sakura-Con began in 1998 as a small, three-day event — a party for anime fans at the Double Tree Inn, in Tukwila Washington. The convention has grown dramatically in the past 5 years in terms of attendees, guest speakers, companies, and press attending the event. Operated by an all-volunteer staff, their main goal is for everyone to have a good time…from our guest speakers to our attendees. We are happy to say that this is one thing we excel at and that they are known for.

As in years past, PAPER will be participating at the festival with a booth to teach the visitors origami. We will be located in the Youth Matsuri, in Room 310. The hours of the festival are Friday 10am – 6pm;  Saturday 10am – 6pm;  Sunday 10am – 2pm. Come join us.

In addition to our general folding, Ray Takeuchi, of PAPER, will be hosting two workshops for more structured origami instruction. Participate in transforming a sheet of paper into an intriguing and beautiful model.  Saturday 1:30-2:30pm and Sunday 1:00-2:00pm  Room 206.

Directions to the convention center are here.

Floor plans of the second and third levels of the convention center are here.

PAPER at SAAM

This Saturday, April 3, 2010, is the Free First Saturday at the Seattle Asian Art Museum, sponsored by Wells Fargo. Attendance to the museum is free.

This weekend is the opening weekend of the Japanese woodblock print exhibition,  Fleeting Beauty.  This exhibition brings together prints from the most renowned ukiyo-e artists of the 18th and 19th centuries—including Harunobu, Utamaro, Eishi and Hiroshige—along with Hokusai’s most beloved prints, Great Wave off Kanagawa and Red Fuji. These Japanese woodblock prints demonstrate an evocative play between delicate ink lines and rich blocks of color in portraits of beautiful women and kabuki actors, jewel-like landscapes of famous places, and more. Drawn from the Mary and Allan Kollar Collection, a gift to the Seattle Art Museum on the occasion of its 75th Anniversary, this installation introduces the region to a remarkable collection of prints, all taken from early impressions and in excellent condition.

PAPER will be at SAAM from 11:00am to 2:00pm to teach the visitors origami. Stop by to see the beautiful and woodblock print exhibit and to learn some origami.

SAAM is located in Discovery park on Seattle’s Capitol Hill. Visit their web site for directions or use this map to locate the museum.

“Between the Folds” coming to Seattle

PAPER Report From the Nihon Matsuri

PAPER participated in the Eastside Nihon Matsuri at Bellevue College last Saturday and Sunday. It was a pretty low-key atmosphere as we welcomed festival visitors to learn some origami. The some of the models that we usually teach include the traditional and flapping crane, a jumping frog, flowers, spinners, and butterflies. For young children or true beginners, we will help them through the traditional cup, a swan, or a Montroll penquin. For more advanced folders we will teach them modulars, like the Ichi Bashi Ball.

In addition to teaching origami, we were able to set up a small exhibit of models folded by the group. Ray Takeguchi, John Smiley, Mark Morden, and former member Steve Hecht  participated in the exhibit. Photos of the event and the exhibit are after the jump. (more…)

PCOC Registration Is Now Open

The Pacific Coast OrigamiUSA Conference (PCOC) for 2009 will be held at the Holiday Inn Golden Gateway Hotel in beautiful downtown San Francisco, California, the weekend of November 5-8, 2009.

Featured guest origami artists: (subject to change with possibly more added)

On-line registration is now active. It is important to register early. When they pull the tickets for the classes on Saturday morning, the order is determined by registration dates. The earlier we register, the closer to the front of the line to request class tickets.

The Early Bird Package is your best bargain. It includes Friday reception; Saturday and Sunday classes; Saturday and Sunday box lunches; Saturday banquet and entertainment; late-night folding; PCOC San Francisco T-shirt; and Welcome kit (canvas bag with paper and goodies). It costs $195 if purchased by September 30th, or $250 if purchased between October 1st and 13th. After that date, all purchases must be via the a la carte menu.

Click here for the PCOC home page at OrigamiUSA

Click here to go directly to the PCOC registration page

PAPER at the Eastside Nihon Matsuri

On Saturday and Sunday, September 12 and 13, ENMA will present “Aki Matsuri (Fall Festival).” The matsuri is a 2-day program of Japanese cultural, educational, and fun events for all age groups, to celebrate Japan’s rich cultural heritage. A large number of local artists and craftpersons practicing Japanese-style arts and crafts (including the performing arts and martial arts), and Japan related businesses & organizations will be participating during the entire two day event.

This will be the 12th year of the festival, and PAPER has participated since the beginning. The festival will be held at Bellevue Community College in Bellevue, Washington. We will have an area set up to teach origami to festival visitors. Our booth will be located in Building C, the cafeteria. See the link below to locate the building on Campus.

Please note that we will not have our regularly scheduled PAPER meeting this month, since the festival takes place on the same weekend as our meeting.

Click here for directions to the College campus

and

Click here for a map of the campus

Hope to see you at the festival!