NBF Helps Host Guests for Museum Tour

Photo from Tomas Eric Sales/Asian Development Bank

The National Bonsai Foundation was honored to host, and tour distinguished guests of Ambassador Chantale Wong (United States Director of the Asian Development Bank) from the Asian Development Bank, National Museum of Asian Art, the White House and Japan on a recent beautiful spring Sunday. NBF Board Chair Jim Hughes led the tour around the National Bonsai & Penjing Museum grounds. Those in the group picture above: 

• Jim Hughes, National Bonsai Foundation Board Chair

• U.S. Representative Mark Takano, (D-CA 41)

• Erika Moritsugu, Deputy Assistant to the President and Asian American and Pacific Islander Senior Liaison, The White House

• Masatsuga Asakawa, President, Asian Development Bank

• Ambassador Chantale Wong, United States Director of the Asian Development Bank

• Ross Campbell, Board Member, National Bonsai Foundation

• Frank Feltens, PhD, National Museum of Asian Art 

• Haruto Takimura, Chief Advisor to the President of the Asian Development Bank

• Laura Schwartz, Senior External Relations Officer, Asian Development Bank

• Mieko Kuramoto, Legislative Correspondent for Representative Takano

In the picture below, Assistant Museum Curator Andy Bello brought the tour to a close in the staff workroom with a brief explanation of his work on a Chinese Quince Orchard Forest. This tree was donated to the Museum by past curator, Warren Hill.  It was started from seed and has been in training since 1975.

 Photo from NBF Board Member

NBF is grateful to have spent time with the group remembering and celebrating the longstanding relationship between the United States and Japan, strengthened by the extraordinary Japanese gift to our country that formed the beginning of the Museum. NBF looks forward to bolstering those ties and hopes to welcome our guests for another visit soon. 

Museum Curators: Jack Sustic

Jack Sustic at NBF’s annual reception in 2018.

“It’s almost as if my life path was leading, from the very beginning, to become curator.”

— Jack Sustic

Sustic has just retired from his two-year stint as National Bonsai Foundation co-president and 19 years as a board member, leaving an extensive and inspiring legacy at the Museum – including 12 cumulative years as Museum curator. Therefore, it’s only fitting we pay homage to him in our next Museum Curators spotlight. 

His “path” to bonsai curator began indirectly during his youth. Sustic had heard references to bonsai in films like Karate Kid, but he first saw a real bonsai in the mid-1980s when he was serving in Korea as a U.S. Army soldier before college. He said the bonsai immediately captivated him, and upon returning to the U.S. at Fort McClellan, Alabama, Sustic joined the Alabama Bonsai Society.

The club jumpstarted his love for bonsai and plants in general, and Sustic soon graduated from Michigan State University with a degree in horticulture. He scored his first plant care job at the Riverbanks Zoo and Botanical Garden in South Carolina, during which he applied for the U.S. National Arboretum’s internship at the National Bonsai & Penjing Museum.

In 1996, Sustic served as the Museum intern for six months under Curators Bob Drechsler and Warren Hill. He returned to South Carolina after his internship wrapped up but was soon chosen for the Assistant Curator position, taking over as curator after Hill retired. Sustic served as curator from 2001 to 2005 and returned in 2008 to preside over the Museum for another eight years. 

“It was such an honor to be part of that collection, but with that honor comes responsibility,” Sustic said. 

Sustic and volunteer Dr. Joe Gutierrez repotting the Yamaki pine.

Accomplishments as Curator and Co-President

Sustic helped to establish many perennial programs and relationships at the Museum and NBF. He pioneered the formation of NBF’s National Bonsai Hall of Fame, which currently includes three members: John Naka, Yuji Yoshimura and Bill Valavanis.

“It was something I thought the Museum and the U.S. bonsai community needed in order to honor and recognize these bonsai masters’ valuable contributions to the art,” he said. 

Sustic is credited with planting the seeds to grow the Museum’s Sister Museum relationship with the Omiya Bonsai Art Museum after he visited their site in Saitama, Japan. Sustic also formed the Consortium of Public Bonsai Curators as a way for bonsai artists and leaders to share information about how they share, cultivate and protect their bonsai collections. 

“The consortium serves to help each other and each public collection. I’m very proud of that,” he said. 

From left to right: Former Curators Jim Hughes, Bob Drechsler, Jack Sustic and current Curator Michael James.

Sustic’s Bonsai Inspirations

Sustic met an array of friends and teachers throughout his nearly 20 years at the Museum. 

“Being curator has allowed me to get to know, work with and befriend people around the world who have been part of the Museum,” Sustic said. “The kindness that all these people share is wonderful.”

Among that company is Felix Laughlin, appointed as NBF’s third president as Sustic began his internship in 1996. Sustic eventually joined Laughlin as co-president from 2018 to 2020. 

“I was really lucky to have one NBF president the entire time I was at the Museum and really lucky it was Felix,” Sustic said. “He is such a wonderful guy, and we worked really well together.”

Sustic learned the art of bonsai from many people, but he most prominently drew inspiration and learned from bonsai master John Naka, who visited the Museum every year to work on trees, especially his world-renowned “Goshin.” Sustic also visited Naka in California to work on trees in Naka’s backyard. 

“Looking back now, I wish I had paid more attention,” he said. “It went by too fast, but those were wonderful experiences. I learned a lot from John, so his influence was huge on me.”

Sustic also learned from Harry Hirao and traveled to Saburo Kato’s bonsai nursery in Japan called Mansei En, during which he received one-on-one training from Kato. With their help, he excelled as a leader and friend throughout his years of dedication to the Museum. 

“I distinctly remember telling Bob Drechsler, ‘I don’t know how you can be curator. I could never do it,’” Sustic said. “Fortunately, over time I learned the ropes, and eventually I took it over. I considered it a real honor and privilege to have been the steward of those trees, and I still feel that way.”

Sustic adds the final touches on a trident maple prior to an official state visit by the Japanese Prime Minister in 2012.

Museum Curators: Jim Hughes

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.”

NBF Welcomes Jim Hughes as Incoming Chair

Jim Hughes

The National Bonsai Foundation is pleased to announce Jim Hughes as our new Chair of the Board. 

Hughes oversaw the National Bonsai & Penjing Museum as curator from 2005 to 2008. He has served as an NBF board member since 2009 – briefly holding the treasurer position – and is a member of many other bonsai groups, including the Minnesota Bonsai Society, Brookside Bonsai Society and the Potomac Bonsai Association.

He has contributed greatly to the Museum in the past, leading the fundraising efforts for the renovation of the Japanese Pavilion, taking care of our prized collections, holding bonsai demonstrations and writing articles for our former communication outlet: the NBF Bulletin. Hughes has also represented NBF on the Friends of the National Arboretum (FONA) board for three years.

Hughes was born in Minnesota and graduated from St. John’s University in Collegeville, Minnesota with an undergraduate degree in English and a minor in education. He taught for 10 years at various high schools in the Minneapolis suburbs before returning to school to study computer programming.

Hughes first came to Washington, D.C. in 1996 and soon became a volunteer at the National Bonsai & Penjing Museum. In 2002, he was chosen for the assistant curator position working under Jack Sustic, leading him to assume the curator position three years later.

 Hughes was a key member of the planning committee for the symposium on The Art of Chinese Penjing sponsored by the U.S. National Arboretum and NBF. He studied rock and tree penjing and the origins of bonsai at the Shanghai Botanical Garden.

NBF welcomes Hughes as the new head of the Foundation and looks forward to many years of collaboration and support for the Museum with the U.S. National Arboretum and the collections of beautiful bonsai and penjing.

WE INVITE YOU TO COMMENT BELOW TO WELCOME JIM!

The Museum is Alive with the Sound of the National Symphony Orchestra!

(L-R) Janice Vitale (NBF Board Member), Amy Grossnickle (Kennedy Center), NSO Musicians, Johann Klodzen (NBF Executive Director) posed with the Juniperus chinensis var. Itoigawa (donated by the Kennett Collection).

It was a great honor to have the National Symphony Orchestra perform a Chamber Concert at the National Bonsai & Penjing Museum on Saturday, June 1st in the Upper Courtyard.

The quartet, made up of National Symphony musicians Hanna Lee and Jing Qiao (violin), Eric deWaardt (viola), and Loewi Lin (cello) treated the crowd of nearly 70 visitors to a range of compositions from Vivaldi to Glass, all inspired by nature and/or Asian culture in someway to match the beautiful setting.

Jack Sustic, NBF Co-President welcomes the crowd.

Jack Sustic, National Bonsai Foundation’s Co-President, was there to welcome and introduce the program. Board Member, Jim Hughes, and Janice Vitale were also there. The free program was a huge success, with many of the visitors asking for more programming like it in the future.

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Read an interview we did with the musicians before the concert here.