Bonsai Plaza nurseries · clubs · learning

Gresham Japanese Garden — Art of Bonsai Workshops

Learning Gresham, OR

Also called: GJG bonsai workshops; Gresham Japanese Garden Art of Bonsai; Kyoudou Center bonsai class

Website
https://www.greshamjapanesegarden.org/bonsai-workshops/
Location
Gresham, OR
Last checked
2026-09-22
visit
https://www.greshamjapanesegarden.org/visit/
about
https://www.greshamjapanesegarden.org/about/
home
https://www.greshamjapanesegarden.org/

What it is

Gresham Japanese Garden Art of Bonsai workshops are a curriculum/schedule-first monthly class series in Gresham, Oregon. Official Bonsai Workshops page: project-based workshops plus Group Kobo and Styling Kobo under the direction of bonsai master Bobby Curttright, held inside the Garden’s Kyoudou Center. Each monthly session teaches a named technique or species project (deadwood, repotting, kusamono, wiring, formal upright, and related topics) with a printed 2026 Thursday and Saturday calendar. Related Garden context includes Tsuru Island inside Main City Park (visit/hours on separate Visit pages). This listing is Learning — not a retail nursery shop and not a membership club.

Who it’s for

Portland-metro / Gresham-area adults who want a ticketed, recurring bonsai workshop series: beginners and continuing students working a new project each month, taking home tree/container/supplies when the materials fee applies, and optional drop-in Group Kobo for working on their own trees with instructor guidance. Garden visitors interested in Tsuru Island may also use published park hours, but this card is for the Art of Bonsai workshop pages, not for walk-up tree sales.

Why it’s listed

This is a first-party Japanese-garden education catalog with printed 2026 session dates, workshop fee, materials fee, instructor credit, and Kyoudou Center location — curriculum and schedule first, not a shop blur. (Candidate notes this ship: National Bonsai Foundation site still reflects ops concluded; NYBG Enrole path still weaker on printed full tuition than this GJG page.)

  • Class identity / instructor (Bonsai Workshops — checked 2026-09-22): monthly project-based workshops; curriculum consistent between Thursday and Saturday sessions; varying plant material each month; instructor Bobby Curttright (page bio: apprenticeship with Michael Hagedorn completed 2016; study under Shinji Suzuki in Obuse, Japan). Filed as the Garden’s Art of Bonsai series. Also offers Group Kobo drop-in (bring your own tree; $20 cash drop-in noted) and related styling/open kobo programming.
  • 2026 schedule + tuition (Bonsai Workshops — checked today): third Thursday and third Saturday of every month. Times: Thursday 6:00–8:00 p.m. or Saturday 1:00–3:00 p.m. Workshop fee $40 plus $15 for tree, container, and other supplies (page notes fee adjustment and reduced class size for individualized instruction). Sample Thursday topics: Jan 15 Deadwood Creation; Feb 19 Repotting Deciduous; Mar 19 Repotting Conifers; Apr 16 Making a Kusamono; May 21 Spring Pine Work; Jun 18 Buxus Forest (Yose-ue); Jul 16 Prunus emarginata styling; Aug 20 Formal Upright Sitka Spruce; Sep 17 Azalea styling; Oct 15 Aluminum Wiring Western Hemlock; Nov 19 Aluminum Wiring Pacific Willow; Dec 17 Copper Wiring Western White Pine. Saturday series mirrors topics on adjacent third-Saturday dates (e.g. Oct 17, Nov 21, Dec 19). Cancellation policy: no cash refunds; credit toward a future event if notice is given at least 24 hours before the workshop (exceptions for visiting/out-of-town instructors).
  • Garden context / address (Visit + workshops location line — checked today): workshops at Kyoudou Center, Gresham Japanese Garden (inside Main City Park, building closest to the Springwater Trailhead). Visit page: Tsuru Island sits inside Main City Park off Powell Boulevard / enter via Historic Downtown Gresham; map/pin text prints 124 S. Main Avenue; city Gresham, OR 97030. Main City Park and Tsuru Island: free, open daily sunrise to sunset (public park hours — confirm live Visit notices; renovation/closure notes may apply). About: Garden is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit.

Tuition, session dates, materials fees, and park hours above are what the official Gresham Japanese Garden pages showed on the check date. Catalog seats and prices change. Use the live Bonsai Workshops page before treating any figure as fixed.

Official URL

Bonsai Workshops (class page): https://www.greshamjapanesegarden.org/bonsai-workshops/

Location

Class meetings: Kyoudou Center, Gresham Japanese Garden inside Main City Park, Gresham, OR (Visit map/pin 124 S. Main Avenue, Gresham, OR 97030; park access off Powell Boulevard / Main Avenue). Confirm classroom check-in on the registration confirmation and live workshops page. Tsuru Island park hours are sunrise–sunset and free — use the live Visit page for renovation closures.

This is a garden education / class-series address. Do not treat it as a retail bonsai nursery shop or as a membership club meeting hall. Category remains Learning (curriculum/schedule-first), even though the Garden also maintains public garden spaces.

Notes

  • Category is Learning. First-party adult workshop series with printed schedule, workshop fee, materials fee, and instructor — not a nursery and not a club. Distinct from Evergreen Gardenworks (Nurseries) and Puget Sound Bonsai Association (Clubs).
  • 2026 $40 + $15 materials, third Thursday/Saturday cadence, Bobby Curttright instructor credit, and Kyoudou Center / Main City Park location are transcribed from official GJG pages checked on 2026-09-22 and may change.
  • Pics optional for this Tuesday card; no listing image saved beside this file. Default learning card art is used.
  • Not affiliated with Bonsai Plaza.
  • No Bonsai Plaza contact, purchase, booking, or publication action was taken.

FAQ

Q: What do the Art of Bonsai workshops cost, and what is included? A: Official Bonsai Workshops page (checked 2026-09-22): $40 workshop fee plus $15 for tree, container, and other supplies. Group Kobo drop-in notes $20 cash. Confirm live seats on https://www.greshamjapanesegarden.org/bonsai-workshops/

Q: When are the 2026 sessions? A: Third Thursday (6–8 p.m.) and third Saturday (1–3 p.m.) each month, with a full printed topic calendar (deadwood, repotting, kusamono, wiring, species styling, and more). Example fall dates: Thursday Oct 15 / Saturday Oct 17; Thursday Nov 19 / Saturday Nov 21; Thursday Dec 17 / Saturday Dec 19. Watch the live workshops page for Group Kobo and special sessions.

Q: Is this a nursery or a club? A: Neither for Bonsai Plaza category purposes. Gresham Japanese Garden publishes curriculum/schedule-first workshop pages, so the card is Learning. Tree/pot retail with shop prices belongs under Nurseries (e.g. Evergreen Gardenworks). First-party club meeting schedules belong under Clubs (e.g. Puget Sound Bonsai Association). Garden nonprofit status and free park access are context, not a reclassification into Clubs.