Description goes heHekiun Oda is a Grandmaster, or "Shihan", Japanese Calligraphy Artist in the Genshin Kai school of shodō or Japanese calligraphy. From Kobe, Japan, Oda has been practicing shodō since he was 5 years old, and uses this art to inspire others to see its beauty by both teaching and creating. After living in Chicago, Illinois for the last 31 years, Oda teaches shodō to a diverse community who may or may not speak Japanese. Through shodō, Oda hopes both his students and those who view his art understand the expression in the brushstrokes, and the feelings he creates through them. In addition to practicing classical shodō art, Oda creates stunning and performative avant-garde style shodō using a custom-made 5 foot Kumano Fude brush composed of white horse tail. Oda has received many awards for his work including the Japan America Society Cultural Achievement award, the Best Artwork Award at the Genshin Kai exhibition, and Excellent Work Award at the Hyogo prefecture calligraphy exhibition.

Oda is also known for his artistic collaborations across mediums, including those with traditional Japanese dancer Yoshinojo Fujima of Shubukai. He has participated in various local exhibitions and public works at institutions such as the Japanese Culture Center of Chicago, Uniqlo, JCAT New York, McHenry County College, Japanese Arts Foundation, and the Hairpin Arts Center among others. re

Yoshinojo Fujima [藤間 淑之丞] (aka Rika Lin) is “shin-nisei”, part of the post-war Japanese American diaspora. She is an interdisciplinary artist, choreographer, and Grandmaster in Fujima style Japanese classical dance. She has performed her original works and as part of many collaborations at Links Hall, the Chicago Cultural Center, the Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park, and the Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA), where she premiered her full-length work Asobi: Playing within Time in 2018. A core member of the organization Asian Improv Arts Midwest, she promotes identity and tradition through performance as well as her teaching practice in Japanese classical dance.

Currently pursuing projects as a High Concept Labs Fellow (2020-2021), she is recipient of a John D. and Susan P. Diekman Fellowship Djerassi Resident Artist (2019), has received residencies at Ragdale Foundation (2019) and High Concept Labs (2018), a Links Hall Artistic Associate Curatorial Resident, 3Arts Make a Wave artist, and Chicago Dancemakers Forum Lab Artist (2017.) Yoshinojo’s curated series “Beyond the Box”, launched in 2017, centers on female performers and creatives. Her own dance investigations alter the traditional pedagogy of Japanese dance with humor and subtle transgressions by way of questioning ideas of role and identity.

Mami Takahashi is a Japanese multidisciplinary artist and a scholar working at multiple cities including Portland, Chicago and Tokyo. She received her MFA in Contemporary Studio Practice from Portland State University in 2013 and earned a BFA in Japanese Painting from Joshibi University of Art and Design in Japan. For more details, visit https://mamitakahashi.art/

With ongoing artistic research, practice, and teaching, Takahashi explores different approaches to actualize Japanese aesthetics to enhance cultural perspectives to many U.S. communities. At JAF, she is expanding her creativity to incorporate more specific discourses around society, past and present via a lens of Japanese art. Takahashi also aims to connect between Japan and communities in Chicago by teaching traditional and modern art-making techniques.