In 2000
Hawai`i Craftsmen was designated the lead partner and on-site
manager for The ARTS at Marks Garage -an arts enterprise
project in downtown
Honolulu. This opportunity allowed us to increase our
presence in the
community and to offer expanded programming to our membership
and the
public. The location and collaborative nature of this venture
also furthers
our goals of increasing our exposure to new communities, thus
increasing our
membership and our base of financial support.
Hawai`i Craftsmen (together
with the partner organizations) brings over 30 years of
experience and
community relationships to the development of this long
awaited endeavor.
The importance and quality of our work has won us State
Foundation on
Culture and the Arts support since our inception. Our members
include Ron
Kent, whose work is in the White House Crafts Collection,
Francis Pickens,
represented in the Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian
Institution, life
members Toshiko Takaezu, Claude Horan, Ruthadell Anderson,
Lucille Copper,
and other illustrious artists. Many of our 400 members, one
third being
neighbor islanders, have works in the SFCA Art in Public
Places collection.
Many teach art in Hawai'i's public and private schools
passing on to their
students new techniques they learn through us, especially
through `Aha Hana
Lima.
Described by Academy of Art director George Ellis as "one of
the most
professional and active organizations of its kind in the
nation," our
"distinguished record of service" through juried exhibitions,
lectures,
demonstrations, and workshops, which have drawn between 1500
and 9000
attendees, has "been instrumental to the creation of public
appreciation,
perception, and awareness of the visual arts."
Living in paradise provides unique programming challenges:
five islands
separated by miles of ocean. Hawai'i Craftsmen increases
membership
involvement by sending jurors to neighbor islands, shipping
neighbor
islanders' work to exhibits in Honolulu, giving scholarships
to Neighbor islanders for Honolulu workshops, and contracting
out-of-state jurors and guest artists. Our website, redesigned and updated
in 2002, features our organization, programs and member artists and is
a resource for artists and those interested in crafts and the arts. We work
hard to reach art educators in all levels of education so that they may
take what they have learned back to their students. We network with neighbor
island organizations to provide opportunities for the guest artists
to reach an even larger part of our state through presenting workshops
and slide lectures outside of Honolulu.
Many of our programs are co-sponsored or produced with the
help of The Honolulu Academy of Art, The Contemporary Museum, The
University of Hawai`i, The State Foundation on Culture and the Arts, The Mayor's
Office on Culture and Art, East West Center, and other arts and culture
organizations and facilities throughout the state. All of these programs are
available and promoted to neighbor islanders. Receptions, exhibits and raku
beach side firings are free to the public; fees are charged to
participating artists at workshops, exhibits and the raku firing.
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