Community Joins Together at The Heritage Center to Make Japanese Yajirobei

posted July 8, 2014

When well-known artist and furniture maker Tadao Arimoto was invited to a YMCA youth camp in New York state nearly ten years ago he found himself in need of a simple wood-working project. He decided to reinvent one of his childhood toys with an artistic flare: a yajirobei.

“I just made the process up!” said Tadao as he watched students and community members drilling, gluing and crafting at The Heritage Center during a free workshop today. “Now I put on workshops a few times a year. It’s not my full-time job, but I enjoy doing it.”

Unless you grew up in Japan, you might have missed out on the yajirobei, a simple child’s toy. Often made of a light material, such as bamboo or tin, a yajirobei is a sculpture that balances easily on a single point.

                    

“I think these are really cool,” said Mikiyela Cornelius, a 16 year-old sophomore at Pine Ridge High School who attended the workshop. Mikiyela said she wants to be an architect one day and that she’s glad there are events like this on the reservation for her to attend.

“You get to use your mind and be creative,” Mikiyela continued, “Everyone’s was different, so you can see how everyone thinks differently and can show who they are in their art work.”

                    

“Until recently, we haven’t had much space for events like these,” said Mary Maxon, interim director and curator of The Heritage Center. But Mary noted that The Heritage Center has always been been supportive of community art projects. “We’ll be opening a new space upstairs soon that will give us more room and availability in the future to host more events like this.”

The workshop was sponsored by The Sculpture Project: Passage of Wind and Water at Main Street Square in Rapid City. For more information on this and upcoming arts events visit: http://www.rcsculptureproject.com

Learn more about The Heritage Center and their programming.

 

Photos and Content ©Red Cloud Indian School, 2014