Wesleyan University's College of East Asian Studies Gallery celebrates 25th anniversary of Japanese Garden (Shôyôan Teien) with exhibition on display through Friday, December 10, 2021
25th Anniversary of the College of East Asian Studies Japanese Garden (Shôyôan Teien)
An exhibition celebrating the 25th anniversary of the College of East Asian Studies Japanese Garden (Shôyôan Teien) will be on display in the Mansfield Freeman Center, located at 343 Washington Terrace on the Wesleyan campus in Middletown, Connecticut, through Friday, December 10, 2021. Gallery hours are Tuesday through Friday from Noon to 4pm. Stephen Morrell (pictured), a landscape architect specializing in Japanese-style gardens, designed, built, and continuously cares for the garden. Photo by Milly Hopkins ’25, edited by Olivia Drake.
Click here to download high resolution version.
An exhibition celebrating the 25th anniversary of the College of East Asian Studies Japanese Garden (Shôyôan Teien) will be on display in the Mansfield Freeman Center, located at 343 Washington Terrace on the Wesleyan campus in Middletown, Connecticut, through Friday, December 10, 2021. Gallery hours are Tuesday through Friday from Noon to 4pm. Stephen Morrell (pictured), a landscape architect specializing in Japanese-style gardens, designed, built, and continuously cares for the garden. Photo by Milly Hopkins ’25, edited by Olivia Drake.
Click here to download high resolution version.
25th Anniversary of the College of East Asian Studies Japanese Garden (Shôyôan Teien)
An exhibition celebrating the 25th anniversary of the College of East Asian Studies Japanese Garden (Shôyôan Teien) will be on display in the Mansfield Freeman Center, located at 343 Washington Terrace on the Wesleyan campus in Middletown, Connecticut, through Friday, December 10, 2021. Gallery hours are Tuesday through Friday from Noon to 4pm. The Japanese garden can be viewed through the Freeman Center’s tatami room (shôyôan), pictured. Planned as an educational resource, the ensemble of the tatami room and garden provides a tangible means of experiencing Japanese aesthetics and culture. Photo by Milly Hopkins ’25, edited by Olivia Drake.
Click here to download high resolution version.
An exhibition celebrating the 25th anniversary of the College of East Asian Studies Japanese Garden (Shôyôan Teien) will be on display in the Mansfield Freeman Center, located at 343 Washington Terrace on the Wesleyan campus in Middletown, Connecticut, through Friday, December 10, 2021. Gallery hours are Tuesday through Friday from Noon to 4pm. The Japanese garden can be viewed through the Freeman Center’s tatami room (shôyôan), pictured. Planned as an educational resource, the ensemble of the tatami room and garden provides a tangible means of experiencing Japanese aesthetics and culture. Photo by Milly Hopkins ’25, edited by Olivia Drake.
Click here to download high resolution version.
An opening reception and talk by garden curator and caretaker Stephen Morrell was held on Wednesday, September 29, 2021 for Wesleyan students, faculty, and staff. Read the "News at Wesleyan" article Wesleyan’s Japanese Garden Celebrates 25th Anniversary with Exhibit.
"The garden is a reflection of nature's beauty," said Morrell. "By design it encourages a peaceful intimate relationship where subjective and objective experience merge in present moment being. When that happens you become part of the garden."
About the Exhibition
The College of East Asian Studies celebrates the 25th anniversary of its Japanese Garden (Shôyôan Teien) with an exhibition in their gallery at the Mansfield Freeman Center. The curated show features archival photographs, poetry, video, and an installation demonstrating the breadth of the garden’s cultural connections over the last two and a half decades. This exhibition was originally planned for the anniversary year of the garden in 2020 but was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Shôyôan Teien was constructed in 1995 through the generosity of Mansfield Freeman '16 and encouragement of Mr. Freeman’s son, Houghton Freeman '43. It was designed, built, and is continuously cared for by Stephen Morrell, a landscape architect specializing in Japanese-style gardens. Planned from the start as an educational resource, the garden provides visitors the opportunity to explore the intricate relationships between landscape and culture in Japanese aesthetics. For over 25 years, the garden has been one of the most beloved spaces at Wesleyan University, and actively used for a range of purposes, from art classes to daily meditation practices. This exhibition celebrates and contemplates the garden’s rich history.
The College of East Asian Studies Gallery at Mansfield Freeman Center is curated by Associate Director of Visual Arts and Adjunct Instructor in Art Benjamin Chaffee and Exhibitions Manager Rosemary Lennox.
COVID Safety Guidelines
The general public will be welcomed back to Wesleyan this fall to enjoy Center for the Arts outdoor programming and exhibitions in both the Ezra and Cecile Zilkha Gallery and the College of East Asian Studies Gallery at Mansfield Freeman Center. All patrons must adhere to and follow the University COVID-19 safety guidelines. Wesleyan requires all visitors to be fully vaccinated. All visitors will need to provide proof of having been fully vaccinated. Public health officials consider an individual to be fully vaccinated two weeks after their final dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. Masks are required in all University buildings regardless of vaccination status. Indoor performances as well as special events, including opening receptions in the galleries, will be open to Wesleyan students, faculty, and staff. Vaccinated visitors may attend outdoor events and outdoor activities unmasked. Patrons under the age of 12 are required to wear a mask at outdoor events. Due to current CDC age limits on vaccinations, individuals under the age of 12 will not be permitted at indoor exhibitions.