Hawaii Craftsmen’s Exhibit

We recently attended the Hawaii Craftsmen’s Exhibit at the Downtown Art Center in Chinatown. It is open 11:00 AM to 6:00 PM Tuesday through Sunday, closed on Monday. This exhibit will end on October 15 and will then move on to Maui.

Admission is free. However, parking in the municipal lot below the building is not free. We paid $1.50 to park there for 45 minutes on Thursday. That’s not bad.

Hawaii Craftsmen was organized in 1966. Its members work in a variety of mediums such as clay, glass, metal, fiber, wood, and mixed media.

This show was juried, and 22 cash awards were handed out.

These are some of the pieces that caught my eye. The price of each item is posted in the caption. Not all of these pieces won awards, but I have posted the cash prizes for those that did win.

Valerie Beck, “Under the Bananas,” Glass, $600. (This piece did not win an award, but it is my favorite piece in the show. I just love it.)

Daniel Moe, “Tattooed Makau,” Glass, $3,200. Won the Merit Award in Glass Arts, $250 prize.

Michael Mortara with Misato Mortara, “Pahoa Sky Lidded Calabash,” Glass, $1,800.

Mark White, “Bonsai Box,” Ceramic, $1,300. Won the Merit Award in Ceramic Arts, $250 prize.

Robert Butts, “Bamboo Umeke,” Curly koa, bamboo, epoxy, $4,200.

Sheri Levin McNerthney, “Color Play,” Fiber, $4,800. Won the Handweavers Hui Award, $250 prize.

The display room was enormous, and the pieces were arranged beautifully:

That’s David perusing the many works of art:

David and I were very impressed with the talent exhibited here.

I was tempted to buy the first piece (Valerie Beck, “Under the Bananas,” Glass, $600) pictured at the top of this post but decided against it. Kind of expensive, and where would I display it in my home?

Still, I do love to look at beautiful art. We had a glorious time just browsing.

I returned home, feeling happy and refreshed.