Woodworking Lecture with Mira Nakashima

A single special lecture held Saturday, 13 July 2024, 11:00-12:30 at MacMillan Auditorium, Minnesota Landscape Arboretum (3675 Arboretum Drive, Chaska, MN 55318). Presented by the Andersen Horticultural Library and the Friends of the Andersen Horticultural Library as part of the Library's 50th-anniversary weekend of special events.

Mira Nakashima - daughter of the renowned woodworker George Nakashima and President and Creative Director of Nakashima Woodworkers - speaks about her own journey into woodworking and the legacy of her father: his early life, marriage, and the family's internment at Minidoka during World War II, and then the studio's architectural projects and furniture designs. Nakashima craftsmanship is recognised on the Pennsylvania Historic Register, the National Historic Register and the World Monuments Fund list.

The lecture formed part of a weekend programme that also included a screening of the documentary "George Nakashima, Woodworker" by his nephew John Nakashima (Friday 12 July 2024, 19:00-21:30, MacMillan Auditorium). The Andersen Horticultural Library holds the largest publicly accessible collection of George and Mira Nakashima furniture, built largely from American black walnut, including four book-matched tables and a coffee table made from the burl of an English oak that grew in Sherwood Forest.

Status

Past single-edition event; no further edition announced. The venue (Minnesota Landscape Arboretum) and the Library's Nakashima furniture collection remain active and open to visitors. Verified against the archived official event page (Wayback capture of June 2024); the original URL now serves the permanent "Nakashima Furniture Collection" page.