Come see amazing designers demonstrating how Michi Burrell influenced them and the design world!
Featuring: Rocky Pollitz, AIFD – Matt Wood, AIFD – Todd Smith -Mae Sano – Charlie Groppetti, AIFD – Derrick Vasquez, AIFD – Lori Novak, AIFD – Maya Marrero – & Brad Schmidt, AIFD
Sunday, April 10, 2016 8am-5pm
Hosted At Shinoda’s Santa Ana Warehouse
601 W. Dyer Road, Santa Ana, Ca 92707
(714) 541-4444
Tickets Available At The Door That Day
Suggested Minimum Donation $20
No Reservations Required
Proceeds go to the Michi Burrell Endowed Fund for floral scholarships.
Optional Lunch Sold Separately by Shinoda
Michi Burrell, AIFD started her floral training in Japan as a young girl learning Ikebana along with her socially required music and tea ceremony lessons. It was actually her talent as a singer that later brought her to New York City, wearing a fur coat with only $500.00 in her pocket. Her hesitant Mother only allowed her that much, thinking she would return home when the money ran out. Michi quickly got a job at a fashionable 5th Avenue florist, arranging flowers by day and singing at night. It was also in New York where Michi met Jazz guitarist Kenny Burrell. They married, started a family and soon moved to sunny California. Michi cherished her time raising her two children, Maya and Eddie. In California she started working at Flowers by Morri in Costa Mesa. Her incredible talent was soon noticed. Her exotic linear, Ikebana style arrangements were right on trend with the 70’s styles happening on the west coast. In 1980 she competed and won the prestigious America’s Cup Competition. She was the first woman to win this event and she was soon in great demand traveling the world demonstrating her “East Meets West” style of design. This led to becoming a member of the American Institute of Floral Designers, AIFD. Her designs were dynamic, very bold in color and textures, often featuring tropical flowers or a combination of tropical flowers, foliage and garden flowers. She combined the linear aspects of Ikebana from the Far East and added more volume and mass for western style tastes. There was also an element of glitz that was a hallmark of the 80’s and 90’s as well as her personal fashion sense. At that same time, silk flower production was developing into a huge new industry moving from Taiwan to Mainland China. Looking for top U.S. talent, Michi was soon recruited to develop silk flowers at leading factories. She spent over 25 years, often working 6 to 8 months out of each year at UCP, a top silk flower and holiday decoration company. Her designs were sold globally with American based companies such as: Pottery Barn, Target, Costco, Hallmark, Walmart as well as most floral importers. During the times she was not in China, she often held floral design classes, worked at Shinoda Design Center creating displays or spent time with her grandchildren. What is most remembered about Michi is she always took time to teach and mentor others, no matter how busy or accomplished she became. You knew when Michi was around, you would always learn, laugh and be indefinitely inspired. To honor her great legacy in the World of floral design and her great mentoring impact on so many designers an endowed fund was established in her name with the AIFD Foundation. Each year this fund will generate scholarships to be awarded to Floral designers and students looking to expand the vision of modern floral design.
