Waterfall Mansion & Gallery’s unique ambience provides the perfect setting for intimate conversations about culture, art and faith. Warm hospitality mixed with elegance epitomizes our vision of HOME which has now become a standard tradition. So, with this in mind we launched the Waterfall Salon Lunch Series— and we are delighted to announce that our very first offering did not disappoint!
The buzz around our August exhibition, ‘Sea Beyond’ by Mako Fujimura lured both the art conscious and the art curious through our ornate gates on the Upper East Side straight into a collection the New York Times leading opinionist, David Brooks, dubbed “gorgeous works of abstract expressionism.”
It’s worth mentioning that David Brooks in his long career at the New York Times, has never before felt moved to devote his column inches to an artist. But there was something about Mako’s creative expression that moved him. As art investors and collectors alike begin to snap up his work, it has to be said, Mako is gaining a reputation not only as an artist but as an inspirational culture shaper. As the founder of the International Arts Movement (IAM) Mako is advocating for culture care thinking as a catalyst for change.
When one of our beloved patrons suggested to Kate that we host an intimate lunch salon with Mako to discuss his most recent book, Culture Care, we jumped at the chance to pull out our finest china, chill the champagne and facilitate what was a truly illuminating bespoke experience!
Nik Lashley, an independent art strategist and brand writer, alongside gallery owner Kate Shin, served as our moderator. Nik, wasted no time in welcoming our special guests and urged everyone, as they enjoyed their gourmet multi-course lunch, to join in the conversation and share their ideas.
In setting out his bold vision for culture care, artist Mako Fujimura defined his concept as a salve for a culture in crisis, transfixed by the ideas that divide us rather than those that unite us—he offers up a generative principle he says, that has the power to reach beyond mere survival, to inspire people to meaningful action and dialogue while leading us towards wholeness and harmony.
But it was Mako’s ideas about each of us, as individuals, becoming custodians of culture care in our own lives, personal and professional, that truly nurtured our souls. That afternoon as we all sat beside the cascading waterfall, alongside Mako’s aptly titled piece Walking on Water - Grace and Waves, he lovingly urged us to cultivate a spirit of faith not fear.
Mako’s own faith in God and his belief in the transformative power of creativity was, it must be said, as captivating as his artworks that lined the walls of the ground floor space where we gathered. Known as the three “Gs” Mako introduced us to the ideas of Genesis moments, Generosity and Generational thinking as the building blocks of his culture care movement.
As our time together came to a close it was perhaps Mako’s words about the enduring power of beauty as a response to “our troubled and aching world” that left us all, simply wanting more!
For an exclusive signed copy by Makoto Fujimura of Culture Care: Reconnecting with Beauty for our Common Life for $35 (Including domestic shipping cost in US) you can email us at soyon@waterfallmansion.com
