Excerpts from a discussion of how to build a bigger and better bonsai community, through passionate people creating positive experiences.
"Our job is to get people excited about bonsai and be that stepping off point for them."
Tim Arsenault wanted to find a way to forge a career in bonsai. Having found the art form through a workshop with Harold Sasaki in Denver, Tim explored the possibilities of field-growing stock or entertaining some form of bonsai business. "I was inspired by people who were leaving other jobs and starting a career in bonsai. Bonsai was the thing I was most excited about." But after a fateful interaction with Ryan Neil, Tim realized bonsai was a labor of love, more than a sustainable career. Tim set out to find a way to change that dynamic for bonsai in North America; not only offering an experience that gets more beginners engaged, but also creating professional opportunities in the art form for passionate practitioners looking to be bonsai bums or change their trajectory in life by providing the ability to teach bonsai.
Through his brainchild Bonsai Bar, Tim has rapidly built an accessible model of sip and paint bonsai. His team's structure of education is all about hitting the high points and helping people tap into their creative side in a comfortably social situation. "Our job is to get people excited about bonsai and be that stepping off point for them. We aren’t trying to overwhelm people with information. We want to keep it light. I really want to be working in the thing I’m passionate about. With bonsai BAR if we make this something people come out to and can introduce people to bonsai, we can be feeding people into the bonsai community. Maybe this can grow the bonsai economy so more people in the future, like me, who want to get into bonsai, have the opportunity to do that."
"I could never have gotten my wife or my friends to go hang out at a bonsai garden but it's a happy hour, it's at a bar, then it's like let’s go do it. People get in there and they start doing it. I tell my team we have a one, two, three punch.
Number 1: It's a social event just hanging out with friends.
Number 2: People are digging in soil so they get that serotonin release.
Number 3: They are letting themselves be creative in a way that they probably haven’t done since they were five.
You get all that energy back having students that you can tell you just lit the flame in that person."
"If we add this many more people to our community there’s going to be a lot more opportunities. How many of those people are going to be the next Ryan Neil, Todd Schlafer, or David Cutchins?"
Tim and his team have expanded from localized Bonsai Bar events in the Northeast to moving their approach across the country via ambassadors who can carry the torch of bonsai stoke into new cities and places in the country. "We’ve organically grown as people get excited about what we are doing and they reach out. If you have the energy we can always figure out how to get stuff going where you are. Can I take Bonsai BAR there? I guess we can do that. We loaded up the back of a U-haul and got him started. He made it happen. We pay well, there’s a lot of free trees involved, you’re going out helping 30 people wire their trees and you get your 10,000 hours in. Getting those bonsai basics in of trimming and design really quickly is a lot of fun and great experience. If we add this many more people to our community there’s going to be a lot more opportunities. How many of those people are going to be the next Ryan Neil, Todd Schlafer, or David Cutchins?"
Tim's impact goes beyond individuals. His thought process and dedication to the community has had rippling effects for bonsai clubs and bonsai collections across the U.S. "I didn’t want to be the next new mallsai or the new guy on the side of the road in a van. We try to be stewards of the community. We keep thinking what can we be doing to be a really good part of the bonsai community as we are growing things here. If bonsai were as popular as Jiu Jitsu you’d have a bonsai nursery in every small town because there are dojos everywhere. If we can get more people into it what does that mean for supporting more ceramicists, more people who want to be bonsai artists, there’s just more opportunities for everybody there. You are bringing a lot more people into the hobby and it is raising all boats. We have one person who teaches for us, he works a lot in his local bonsai club and has added a couple hundred new members to the bonsai club, mostly people he’s taught in Bonsai BAR classes."
"I tell my team we are on our way to take over the world with Tiny Trees."
It's hard to deny the disarmed approach to Bonsai Bar's success. Making bonsai accessible for every beginner, opening the door to professional opportunities, supporting the craftspeople who supply the community, does it get much better? "I tell my team we are on our way to take over the world with Tiny Trees. It’s a lot of fun to see people get that spark and then figure out how do we, let’s try our best to keep people into bonsai and help to grow the community."
Bravo Tim. Grateful for what you are doing for the community my friend.
