Richard Milgrim tea ceramics exhibition with bowls displayed in a row
From Kyoto to the world

Peace through a bowl of tea.

The Imagine Project is Richard Milgrim's peace-facing expression of a life in tea ceramics: intimate gatherings, talks, and collaborations rooted in chanoyu, hospitality, and shared humanity.

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The Imagine Project

A quiet global pilgrimage for peace.

Inspired by Richard's 46-year relationship with Hounsai Sosho, the Imagine Project invites people to gather in inspiring spaces, share a bowl of tea, and consider what each person can do to contribute to a more peaceful world.

Imagine Project announcement image with Richard Milgrim tea ceramics
One bowl at a time

A bowl of tea can become a small offering of nature.

The project brings together people of different generations, backgrounds, and cultures. Each gathering offers tea as a moment of stillness, connection, and shared reflection.

Its purpose is not spectacle or scale. The work is intentionally intimate. A small room, a shared bowl, a thoughtful conversation: these are the conditions where peacefulness can be felt and carried outward.

Chanoyu

The way of tea as the art of hospitality: harmony, respect, purity, tranquility, and attention to the person in front of you.

RichadoGama

Richard's Kyoto-based studio creates tea bowls and related objects that are both functional vessels and works of art.

Chikyujin

A person of the world. The work is shaped by Japan, America, Kyoto, clay, travel, and the belief that culture can become a bridge.

Tea ceramics

Objects of beauty and use.

RichadoGama pieces are made to be contemplated, held, and used within the living practice of tea. The visual language is not one repeated style, but an underlying spirit across material, form, glaze, and function.

Konko-yu chawan by Richard Milgrim
Konko-yu Chawan, featured work, 2026
Konko Guro heart-shaped inome chawan by Richard Milgrim
Konko Guro heart-shaped Inome Chawan
America RAKU chawan by Richard Milgrim
America RAKU Chawan
Konko Guro Chawan by Richard Milgrim
Konko Guro Chawan, Brooklyn Museum collection
Portrait of Richard Milgrim
Richard Milgrim

Nearly half a century in the world of tea ceramics.

Richard first came to Japan in 1977, traveling through kiln sites and studying Japanese culture. In 1979 he returned to Kyoto as a Watson Fellow, began deeper study of chanoyu, and met Dr. Sen Genshitsu of the Urasenke Tea Tradition.

In 1984-85 he established RichadoGama in northern Kyoto Prefecture. The name was given by Dr. Sen, using characters connected to Rikyu, tea, and earth. From that beginning, Richard's work grew through exhibitions, apprenticeships, tea gatherings, and a life between cultures.

Today RichadoGama and the Imagine Project are one life-work: tea objects of beauty and use, shared as vessels for peacefulness.

1977First year in Japan, traveling to kiln sites and studying Kyoto culture.
1979Returned to Kyoto, studied chanoyu, and met Dr. Sen Genshitsu.
1984Established RichadoGama, named by Dr. Sen.
202650 Bowls for Peace and the Imagine Project move the work outward.
Recent public signals

The work is already moving.

50 Bowls for Peace 2026 exhibition and digital catalog: "Half a Century in the World of Clay."
Core Kyoto NHK World JAPAN featured Richard, his relationship with Dr. Sen, and the Imagine Project.
Brooklyn Museum Richard's Konko Guro Chawan entered the permanent collection and Japan Galleries display.
Global gatherings Imagine Project tea offerings have begun traveling through museums, gardens, and cultural spaces.
An invitation

Share a bowl. Remember what we hold in common.

For collaborators, tea practitioners, museums, students, and peace-minded communities, the Imagine Project offers a simple doorway into tea as hospitality, communication, and shared responsibility.