The Japanese American Student Association (JASA) came together to create a community-led 3D art installation that represents the changing growing season of the Sakura, or “cherry blossom. The art installation includes canvases with small clay flowers attached to them that portray the impact of the climate crisis on cherry blossoms and represent growing season data of cherry blossoms. The flowers will be sculpted and baked with polymer clay charms and then glued on to the canvases. JASA, along with other cultural student organizations and community members, will come together to sculpt the flowers. They will use two different colored clay, light and dark pink. The lighter pink flowers will provide a background for the darker pink flowers which will be placed in the shape of Sakura peak growing season graphs. During JASA weekly meetings, students will come together to build Sakura flowers while incorporating discussions surrounding global environmental challenges and processing associated emotions through art. From April 7-20, student project staff will bake and seal all the clay charms and prepare them on the canvases. During Earth Day on April 22nd, the project will be revealed through a celebratory event hosted at the APASA lounge where the canvases will be hung.
The Japanese American Student Association (JASA) successfully completed their art installation through the collaboration and support of various UA clubs, organizations, and community members. On April 22nd, JASA held a celebratory event to reveal the completed art installation in the APASA lounge with 56 attendees. During the event, JASA provided catering from a local Japanese restaurant, Ikkyu and Tucson cultural food heritage project Chinese Chorizo project. Their website has been created to provide documentation of the project and the efforts put in by JASA members. Project manager Mira Kaibara along with JASA leadership and members showed their dedication to this educational art piece through the collaboration in creating all the Sakura clay charms and holding various workshops. The Sakura project art installation can be seen in the APASA lounge where it is displayed on the wall for everyone to view.
