rockm

I guess I'd see a few very different goals being rolled into one here. The bottom line question is "What do you want your organization to do?--promote the best that bonsai can be, or promote it to the general public or even the established arts"

Those are very very different goals that would also seem to be a little at odds with one another. Futhering appreciation of bonsai as an art to the general public is a very tall order. Even REAL arts programs--regional and national-- are flummoxed when it comes to doing that. Sure, an ad in TIME magazine would be great, but to what end--other than spending $20 or $30 K? Effective publicity is more than an ad in a magazine. It's a targeted program aimed at a specific goal.

If you're after better quality show quality bonsai and bonsai exhibits, then you're addressing a completely different audience than bonsai neophytes and art snobs. I'd say the foundation of that "better bonsai" organization in the U.S. is already out there and already belongs to ABS and BCI and could probably be pusuaded to participate.

And finally, you're never going to overcome the geographic distances here in the U.S. (species of plants used in bonsai, by the way, really aren't much of an obstacle-- a good tree is a good tree if it's a ficus or a California Juniper). Getting a bunch of excellent U.S. bonsai in the same place from all over the country a the same time is a big problem--look at all the regional sports conferences that have tackled this problem in the last century. They aren't split up that way for nothing. They could provide a model for what you're after organizationwise.