A Family Thread

Three afternoons a week, Hana Imaishi ’23 works quietly in the Helene Grant Daly Creative Arts Center. This particular project began last winter, but the thread of her story stretches back much further. Growing up in Japan, Imaishi learned to sew at an early age under the watchful eye of her grandmother. In middle school, she completed work on a wedding dress that took her three years.

“When I was young, I loved the idea of princesses,” says Imaishi. Her newest project conjures up this very image. Going off of a sketch she drew up in a matter of hours, Imaishi is closing in on a year’s worth of work, making steady, remarkable progress. The Afternoon Arts program at Tilton provides her with an outlet for this creativity.

“This is why I came to Tilton,” she says. “Here you can make time for what you want to do. This is my favorite part of each day.”

Imaishi hopes to finish the dress this winter, at which point she’ll have to make her toughest decision yet: who gets to wear it.