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Arts and Culture Calendar (August 2023)

August 7, 2023

This arts and culture calendar features SFCA grantees, partners, and Hawaiʻi state and local government programs and events.

Questions regarding a particular program or event should be directed to the organization listed with the opportunity. Inclusion here should not be interpreted as an endorsement.

Workshops and Classes

  • Bishop Museum “Ola Ka No’eau: Excellence in Hawaiian Artistry” exhibit features artwork from 13 notable Hawaiian artists. Public programming includes a series of Living Culture workshops by some of the featured artists. July 23, Niho ʻOki (utility knife) workshop with ʻUmi Kai. August 12 and 13, Lei Hulu Kāmoe with Kawika Lum-Nelmeida. August 13, Kōkō Pūʻalu with ʻUmi Kai. Learn more about the exhibit and workshops on the Bishop Museum website: BishopMuseum.org/okn.
  • East Hawaiʻi Cultural Center Youth Art Saturday, August 12, 10:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. at the EHCC (Hilo, Hawaiʻi Island). Free and open to children of all ages. For more information, please visit the EHCC website: ehcc.org/youth-arts-saturdays.
  • Hawaiʻi Women in Filmmaking: Making Media that Matters youth workshops for girls (cis/trans), femmes, non-binary, gender-fluid and gender-queer youth ages 12 – 19. Saturdays, September 2 – November 4, 2023 at The Hub (Honolulu). For more information and to register, please visit the Hawaiʻi Women in Filmmaking website: HawaiiWomenInFilmMaking.org/making-media-that-matters.
  • Hui Noʻeau Visual Arts Center (Makawao, Maui) offers “Art with Heart” free hands-on art projects and activities for all ages on Saturdays August 26, September 2, and September 9, 10:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. For more information, please visit the Hui Noʻeau website: HuiNoeau.com/art-events/2023/8/art-with-heart-at-the-hui.
  • Mānoa Heritage Center Ma Ka Hana Ka ʻIke Workshops. These workshops are supported in part by grant funding from the SFCA. For more information and to register, please visit the MHC website: ManoaHeritageCenter.org.
    • Hawaiian Style Bonsai Workshop with Dr. Rick Wagner, August 12
    • Nature Journaling Workshop with Kate Righter August 26
  • US Small Business Administration (SBA) (Hawaiʻi Pacific Islands)
    • Accounting for Creatives, online webinar, Tuesday August 15, 12:00 – 1:00 p.m. Free. Register on the SBA website: sba.gov/event/30452.
    • Starting a Small Business in Hawaiʻi online webinar, Wednesday August 23, 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. Register on the SBA website: sba.gov/event/28568. Wednesday November 15, 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. Register on the SBA website: sba.gov/event/28567.

Art Exhibitions

  • Bishop Museum in partnership with the PAʻI Foundation’s Maoli Arts Movement (MAMo) initiative presents “Ola Ka Noʻeau: Excellence in Hawaiian Artistry” through October 29, 2023. This exhibition explores the genealogy of Hawaiian artistry, particularly through generational transmission of knowledge. Works on view include examples of featherwork, barkcloth, toolmaking, decorated gourds, visual design, and plaiting. For more information, please visit the Bishop Museum website: BishopMuseum.org/OKN.
  • Donkey Mill Art Center (Hawaiʻi Island) “Forces of Nature: Young Artist Exhibition” July 14 – August 12, 2023. Free admission. Exhibit features artworks by over 30 young artists creating meaningful connections with the natural world during this year’s Donkey Mill Art Center Summer Art Experience programs. For more information, please visit the Donkey Mill Art Center website: DonkeyMillArtCenter.org/event/?event=4932.
  • East Hawaiʻi Cultural Center (EHCC) “Every Body is All We Have” exhibit through August 25, 2023. Featuring artists Reem Bassous, Lynn Hershman Leeson, Katarzyna Kozyra, Sue Schroeder, Jennifer Scully-Thurston, and Maga Ćwieluch. For more information, please visit the EHCC website: ehcc.org/content/every-body-all-we-have.
  • First Hawaiian Center gallery at First Hawaiian Bank (downtown Honolulu) exhibit “Hawaiʻiā intersecting flows” Margo Ray, Jisoo Boggs, Carl F.K. Pao, on view April 16 – August 19, 2023.
  • Hawaiʻi Craftsmen Annual Statewide Exhibition 2023 open September 30 – October 28 at the Downtown Art Center (Honolulu), opening reception Saturday September 30, 6:00 – 8:00 p.m. For more information, please visit the Hawaiʻi Craftsmen website: HawaiiCraftsmen.org.
  • Hawaiʻi Handweavers’ Hui and The Glass Fusion Collective “Surrounded by Water” juried art exhibition, Downtown Art Center (Honolulu), August 2-18, 2023 Kahilu Theatre Galleries (Waimea, Hawaiʻi Island) August 24 – October 30, 2023. For more information, please contact the Hawaiʻi Handweavers Hui at [email protected] or visit their website at HawaiiHandweavers.org.
  • Hawaiʻi State Art Museum new exhibits “Fear of the Unknown” and “Creatures and Characters” now open. The Vibe live music event Friday August 11, 6-9 p.m., and Super Saturday family art day Saturday August 26, 11:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. More information on the State Art Museum website calendar: hisam.hawaii.gov/calendar.
  • Kauaʻi Society of Artists, KSA Gallery.
    • Andrea Cesarek: Dusk Patrol” August 4-10
    • “Celebrating Hawaiian Honeycreepers” Kauai Forest Bird Recovery Project August 12-16
    • “Garden Island Quilters” August 18-26
    • “Art Kauaʻi 2023” September 16 – October 27
    • “Small Works Show” November 18-January 5, 2024
  • Leeward Community College (Pearl City, Oʻahu): the new Hōʻikeākea Gallery has opened and will showcase works from LCC students, faculty, and other artists. Learn more on the LCC Arts website (Leeward.hawaii.edu/the-arts). The first exhibition, “ʻAi Pōhaku, Stone Eaters”, pays homage to Hawaiian artists and culture bearers, and offers audiences an opportunity to form meaningful connections to their diverse work while ensuring that their story-telling, through art, is sustained in their ancestral homelands and abroad. Exhibit open through August 25, 2023.
  • University of Hawaiʻi
    • “Honolulu New Painting Invitational”, August 27 – October 22, 2023. The Art Gallery, University of Hawaiʻi at Manoa. Exhibit opening reception Sunday August 27, 2:00 – 4:00 p.m.
    • “Abstract Fragments” faculty exhibition, August 27 – September 30, 2023. Commons Gallery, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa.
    • “Jean Charlot as Critic: Art in Hawaiʻi, 1950-1970”, opening 2:30 – 4:30 p.m. August 27 at the John Young Museum of Art.
    • Learn more on the UHM Art and Art History Department website: hawaii.edu/art/exhibitions-events-museum.
  • Wailoa Arts Center 2023 Exhibits (Hilo, Hawaiʻi Island)
    • “13th Annual Abstract Only!” August 4 – September 14, 2023
    • “Toi o Taranaki ke ti Tonga” October 6-26, 2023“15th Annual Hawaiʻi Nei” November 3 – December 14, 2023
    • Learn more on the Wailoa Arts Center website: WailoaCenter.com.

Performances and Presentations

  • East Hawaiʻi Cultural Center (EHCC) poetry reading by Genny Lim, Sunday August 27, 4:00 p.m. at the Kahua ʻElua Theatre (Hilo, Hawaiʻi Island). Free with advance registration. For more information and to register, please visit the EHCC website: ehcc.org/content/genny-lim.
  • Hawaiʻi State Public Library System “Hawaiian Classical Guitar with Ian O’Sullivan” Molokaʻi Public Library (Molokaʻi), Wednesday August 9, 5:00 – 5:45 p.m.
  • Historic Hawaiʻi Foundation and Department of the Interior’s National Park Service present “Preservation in Practice Webinar: Traditional Knowlege in Stewardship and Preservation”, August 9 on Zoom. https://historichawaii.org/2023/06/30/traditionalknowledgewebinar
  • Honolulu Theatre for Youth’s television show, “The HI Way”, is available online for HTY members: membership.htyweb.org/about-the-hi-way.
  • Kumu Kahua Theatre contemporary drama “Mendokusai” show dates August 17 – September 17, 2023. Reserve seats at www.kumukahua.org or by contacting the theatre box office at (808) 536-4441. Tickets prices range from $5-$25, with showtimes offered Thursdays-Sundays (7PM Thu-Sat and 2PM Sun). For more information about the play, please go to the Kumu Kahua Theatre website: KumuKahua.org/53rd-season.
  • Nā Mākua and Office of Hawaiian Affairs presents the Hana Noʻeau Hawaiian Arts Festival at the Edith Kanakaole Tennis Stadium (Hilo, Hawaiʻi Island). August 18 and 19, free admission. for more information, please visit the Nā Mākua website: namakua.com/hana-noeau-festival.
  • Royal Hawaiian Band free lunchtime concerts at Iolani Palace every Friday at noon.  For more information call 808-522-0822 or visit www.IolaniPalace.org.
  • University of Hawaiʻi-Mānoa (UHM) Better Tomorrow Speaker Series: incisive conversations on the most important questions of our time.
    • “Words Unbound: Protecting Our Stories and Challenging the New Censorship” online event with author Maia Kobabe. Tuesday, September 5, 2023, 3:00 p.m. Hawaiʻi Standard Time. For more information and to register, please go to the UH BTSS website: manoa.hawaii.edu/speakers/maia-kobabe.
    • “Waste Alchemy: How New Technologies Can Convert Rubbish into Resources” public lecture with Veena Sahajwalla, engineer, entrepreneur, and materials scientist. Wednesday, September 13, 2023, 6:30 p.m. Hawaiʻi Standard Time. Architecture Building, Room 205, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. For more information and to register, please to go the UH BTSS website: manoa.hawaii.edu/speakers/veena-sahajwalla.
    • Julian Aguon, Indigenous human rights lawyer, public lecture Thursday, September 21, 2023, Art Auditorium, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. Learn more and register on the UHM website: manoa.hawaii.edu/speakers.
  • University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa Outreach College

This post most recently updated on August 22, 2023.

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