Professor Roberto Pagan will demonstrate the Shokaand Freestyle methods of Ikenobo Ikebana through instruction and hands-on exhibition of various arrangements. He will also provide a history of the origins of Ikenobo Ikebana. Professor Pagan would like to showcase the beauty and joy of Ikenobo Ikebana through his passion for this century old art form as you immerse yourself in the journey and interpretation the story of flowers can facilitate through arrangement. 

Biography
Art has been a life-long passion for Roberto. He graduated from Montclair State University where he received a B.A. degree in Art with a Teacher Certification for K-12 and he began his career as an Art teacher. Before he became enamored with Ikenobo Ikebana, he was a serious painter and had several exhibitions in the metropolitan area. Combining his life long devotion to, and study of, the arts, Roberto had an easy time applying artistic concepts to flower design and to his devotion to Ikenobo Ikebana, which began shortly after he discovered it in an adult class in the 1980’s. He has studied on a regular basis with Nobuko Novak, who was trained in Japan, as well as twice yearly visiting professors from Japan for the last 30 years. He has also studied under numerous Ikenobo professors at workshops in New York City, California, Las Vegas and Canada. Roberto holds the KATOKU Certificate, which is one of the highest Ikenobo diplomas and is now actively teaching Ikenobo Ikebana. He has exhibited and demonstrated numerous times at the Cherry Blossom Festival in Branch Brook Park and at Ikenobo Ikebana NJ Society events. He also continues as an eager participant in Art in Bloom at the Montclair Art Museum