Portland Japanese Garden is a nonprofit founded in 1963 as a place for cross-cultural understanding following World War II. A beloved gem in Oregon, the Garden was founded on the ideals of peace and mutual understanding between peoples. Portland Japanese Garden is considered the most authentic Japanese garden outside of Japan and the foremost Japanese cultural organization in North America. Over the course of its more than 60 years, there are few figures who have made a greater and more lasting impact on Portland Japanese Garden than Steve Bloom. Over an extraordinary two decades as CEO, Bloom transformed a humble, local garden that hosted infrequent programming into an internationally renowned garden and preeminent cultural institution. Through his leadership, a global community witnessed how a garden can be fertile soil for the arts, education, dialogue, and peacemaking just as much as flora.

JapanGSD Lecture Series co-sponsored by the Harvard Graduate School of Design and the Reischauer Institute