Jim Hughes working on a Japanese white pine at the Shanghai Botanical Garden.
For some people, horticulture is in their DNA. This is the case for Jim Hughes, our newly elected National Bonsai Foundation Board Chair and fourth curator, who hails from a lineage of Minnesota farmers.
In this installation of “Museum Curators,” we chronicle Hughes’ dedication to nature and eventually bonsai, which started with childhood visits to his family farm.
“I remember getting the dry kernels of corn off of the corn cobs, putting them in clear mason jars filled with dirt and watching the roots grow,” he said. “The whole process of plants taking off and growing, the day-by-day changes really fascinated me, so my whole life I've been interested in growing things.”
But Hughes’ first taste of bonsai didn’t come until about 30 years later – the late 1980s – when he joined the Minnesota Bonsai Society. He took his first training class from Randy Clark, who ran The Bonsai Learning Center.
Hughes befriended influential members of the bonsai world – like world-class potter Sarah Rayner Alms – and learned from teachers and visiting speakers who attended the monthly bonsai club meetings.
Four of five Museum Curators, from left to right: Jim Hughes, Robert Drechsler, Michael James and Jack Sustic.
In 1995, he moved to the D.C. area with seven years of bonsai experience, ready to learn more at the U.S. National Arboretum. He quickly became a Museum volunteer under our first curator Robert Drechsler, working with the other Museum’s curators in the ensuing years.
“It was a really special opportunity to learn from so many different people, all of whom brought their own talents to the art form,” Hughes said. “That exposure greatly benefited me.”
He loves how bonsai is a unique art form that provides a focused and extremely rewarding career that can stretch across decades.
“Every year you’re dealing with that element of time and age, which makes bonsai so exciting for me,” he said. “You know that five or nine years from now the tree is going to have a different personality because of that age. It’s a really interesting process, and it takes a certain kind of mentality to really be drawn to the complexity of bonsai.”
Hughes with Aaron Packard – an assistant curator Hughes hired to train at the Museum – and Museum Specialist Kathleen Emerson-Dell working on a bonsai they brought to the White House’s Blue Room in 2006 for a visit from the Japanese Prime Minister.
Leading the National Bonsai & Penjing Museum
Hughes worked as a Museum volunteer for seven years, an assistant curator for three years and presided over the collection as curator for an additional three years, from 2005 to 2008 – gaining enough memories and friendships for a lifetime.
One highlight was his five-week trip studying penjing at the Shanghai Botanical Garden in China – the country he deems “the source of bonsai.” He studied with masters every day and took trips to other historical Chinese sites on the weekends. Hughes also had the pleasure of frequently learning from bonsai master John Naka, who visited D.C. for NBF board meetings.
One of Hughes’ most thrilling memories was working to repot the imperial pine, an extensive process because of the tree’s immense size and weight.
“It was incredible to lift the pine up on a hoist, remove it from that huge container, lay under the root ball and break away the dirt to see the roots that have formed over hundreds of years,” he said. “Not many people get to do it, so I was really fortunate.”
Hughes added that he loved the people he met at the Museum, both while volunteering or presiding as curator. He worked extensively with former NBF Executive Director Johann Klodzen (who retired after 19 years in January) on a capital campaign to renovate the Japanese Pavilion.
“That gave me an opportunity to visit and really have a personal conversation with our major donors, which was an educational experience for me and a way to see how important the museum is to so many people,” Hughes said.
Hughes repotting the Ponderosa pine, one of many repottings he was able to take part in.
Taking the helm of NBF
Hughes maintained that his visions for the Museum as the new NBF chair are heavily predicated on partnerships and increasing engagement with donors and guests.
He aims to broaden support for the Museum within local, regional and national communities and international partners. Hughes is looking forward to collaborating with U.S. National Arboretum staff, supporting the goals of Arboretum Director Dr. Richard Olsen and working closely with Friends of the National Arboretum to raise money for the arboretum grounds.
He and the NBF Board are investigating fundraising efforts for upcoming Museum projects, like improvements to the pavilions and structures that house collections and exhibits.
“I’m really excited about the designs that Reed Hilderbrand and Trahan Architects have presented for improvements to the Museum,” Hughes said. “They are just stunning, and I can’t wait to share them with the public.”