Waimea/Kohala Galleries

by Leah Gouker

Aside from the new Hilo Art Museum, the only two galleries with permanent collections on public display are both in Waimea: Puuopelu in the Parker Ranch Historic Homes and the Isaacs Art Center at Hawaii Pacific Academy. These, as well as the Waimea Arts Council's Firehouse gallery, also host rotating exhibits.

Puuopelo

Puuopelu, built in 1862, was home to generations of the Parker family until 1992. It is now a 7,000 square foot gallery that features a new show every two months.

Richard Palmer Smart, a sixth-generation Parker, was Puuopelu's final resident. Smart was a performing artist who sang and danced on Broadway and in Europe in the 1940s. He filled Puuopelo with antiques, European heirloom furniture, and his private collection of French Impressionist and Chinese art (The gallery's permanent Impressionist collection is arguably the finest in the state). After his passing in 1992, his home was transformed into a gallery to continue Smart's legacy of promoting art in the community. Today the Richard Palmer Smart Charitable Trust gives 20 percent of the gallery's sales to four local beneficiaries; the artists keep 80 percent.

From September 3 to October 30, the gallery hosts an exhibit by eight West Hawai'i Plein Air Painters, with portraits, still lifes and scenes of West Hawai'i in oils, acrylics and watercolor. An artists' reception is scheduled for Saturday, October 6, 3-6 p.m.

The West Hawai'i Plein Air Painters meet weekly to paint outdoors ("plein air") at various locations around West Hawai'i; new painters are always welcome, no matter what level of experience. Contact Eric Greenhut at 325-7809 for more info.

The gallery is open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays. For more information, call 885-5433.

Firehouse Gallery

The Firehouse Gallery, a project of the Waimea Arts Council, is located in the town's historic (now decommissioned) 77-year-old fire station; like the East Hawai'i Cultural Center in Hilo, the structure is leased from the County.

In September, the gallery will exhibit the works of five local female artists: Pam Davis, Ann Guth, Julie McCue, Jay West, and Denise Ulrich.

The Firehouse's main gallery will house the 23rd Annual Helen M. Cassidy Memorial Juried Art Show on October 3-27. The show is open to members of the arts council, but anybody can join and then submit an entry. Entries are accepted on Saturday, Sept. 29, 11 a.m- 3 p.m. at the gallery. The opening reception is Saturday Oct. 13, 3-5 p.m.

From November 1-30 the Firehouse plays host to a tandem exhibition by Honoka'a silk painter Clytie Mead and Waimea mixed-media artist Wilsa Glad Saue. The reception is Nov. 10, 3-5 p.m. In December, the Main Gallery features an exhibition of mixed works by Aelbert Aehegma, whose "luminalist" works have been exhibited in at least four countries. The show runs Dec. 1-29, with a reception on Dec. 8, 3-5 p.m. The Firehouse is also one of the featured stops on the Hamakua Artisan's Guild Tour on November 16, 17, 18.

The Waimea Arts Council is a non-profit dedicated to promoting the arts, encouragement of artists, and the provision of a forum for art-related community events; it is primarily supported by member and public donations.

For more information, call 887-1052.

Isaacs Art Center

The Isaacs Art Center, part of Hawaii Preparatory Academy in Waimea, has a two-fold mission: to raise money for HPA's Scholarship Fund (which provided 120 students with aide in the 2004-05 school year), and to provide community access to art and sculpture.

The building was constructed in 1915, and served as Waimea's first public school. The structure was placed on the State Register of Historic Places in 2003, and won the Historic Preservation Award from the Historic Hawai'i Foundation.

The Center has a permanent collection that includes paintings, rare books, furniture and Hawaiiana. There is also a gallery with a variety of art for sale.

Special exhibitions at the center this fall include a Sept. 25-Nov. 17 show of paintings by Yvonne Chang, whose large acrylic paintings of island women in traditional kapa garments grace numerous public and corporate buildings around the islands; and a retrospective show/sale of the 30 works of Hajime Okuda (1906-1992), a foremost painter of Hawaiian landscapes using the palette knife technique. The latter show will run from October of this year until March of 2008.

In addition to the three public galleries in Waimea, North and South Kohala team with private galleries, from the Gallery at the Hilton Waikoloa to the "gallery towns" of Hawi and Kapa'au.

Puuopelu
parkerranch.com/Activities-Public/
237/visit-historic-puuopelu

The Fire House Gallery
waimeaartscouncil.org
Isaacs Art Center
isaacsartcenter.hpa.edu

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