This arts and culture calendar features SFCA grantees, partners, and Hawaiʻi state and local government programs and events. Questions regarding a particular opportunity should be directed to the organization listed with the opportunity. Inclusion here should not be interpreted as an endorsement.
Highlights from this calendar were shared in the December 2022 SFCA email newsletter. To subscribe, scroll down to the bottom of this page.
- Bamboo Ridge Press and Native Books Talk Story with Lee Cataluna in-person talk story and book signing at Native Books in Chinatown, Honolulu, with author Lee Cataluna. December 12, 5:30 p.m., free and open to the public. For more information, please visit the Bamboo Ridge Press website: BambooRidge.org/events-2.
- City and County of Honolulu Department of Parks and Recreation, Kapolei City Lights Celebration at Kapolei Hale, December 10. Festivities include a block party, live music, and a parade. For more information, please visit the Honolulu City and County website: honolulu.gov/cms-dpr-menu/site-dpr-sitearticles/45058-kapolei-city-lights.html.
- State of Hawaiʻi Department of Economic Development and Tourism (DBEDT) webinar: Join Makuake’s Exclusive Made in Hawaiʻi Portal. Learn how to apply and gain support to promote and sell your products on Makuake in this free webinar, Tuesday January 24, 3:00 p.m. Registration is required: us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_dv_Rv29YSb2TcisdjSnKcg.
- East-West Center Arts and Performance “Hana Keaka: The Art of Hawaiian Theatre at UH Mānoa” exhibit in the East-West Center Gallery, through January 8, 2023. In conjunction with this exhibition, new works-in-progress will be presented by current UHM Hawaiian theatre haumāna (students) on November 18-20, and December 18. Monthly exhibition tours will be offered in ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi at 3:00 p.m. following events on Sundays: November 13, December 18, and January 8. For more information, please visit the East-West Center website: arts.eastwestcenter.org/2022/09/20/hana-keaka-the-art-of-hawaiian-theatre-at-uh-manoa.
- Gallery ʻIolani at Windward Community College (WCC) “WOW! & Then: Art over the decades by WCC faculty” exhibit showcasing artworks by past and present WCC art faculty, including Snowden Hodges, Mark Hamasaki, Paul Nash, John Morita, Jordan Souza, Rebecca Horne, Kapulani Landgraf, Shigeru Miyamoto, Miki Cook, William Zwick, Toni Martin, Bryce Meyers, and more. Through December 2, 2022. For more information, please visit the Gallery ʻIolani website: gallery.windward.hawaii.edu.
- Hāna Arts Maui Hāna Community Winter show, Thursday December 15, 2022 at the Parley Kanakaʻole Gym, 6:00 p.m. For more information, please visit the Hana Arts website: HanaArts.com/#calendar.
- Hawaiʻi Council for the Humanities and the Hawaiʻi State Public Library System “Standing Above the Clouds” Hawaiʻi and Pacific Short Film Series, followed by a “Try Think” community conversation, December 15, 6:00 – 7:30 p.m., online. This event is free and registration is required. Learn more and register on the Hawaiʻi State Public Library System website: LibrariesHawaii.org/event/try-think-standing-above-the-clouds.
- Hawaiʻi Craftsmen Annual Statewide Exhibition 2022 at the Maui Arts and Cultural Center November 8-December 23. 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. Online registration begins next year (July 1, 2023). For more information, please contact the Hawaiʻi Handweavers Hui at [email protected] or visit their website at HawaiiHandweavers.org.
- Hawaiʻi Institute for Music Enrichment and Learning Experiences (HIMELE) Hawaiʻi Island Steel Guitar Experience featuring the Hawaiʻi Island Steel Guitar Festival, December 8-11, 2022 at the Mauna Lanai Resort. For more information, please visit the GoHawaii Events and Festivals website:gohawaii.com/islands/events/2022-hawaii-island-steel-guitar-experience.
- Hawaiʻi Opera Theatre (HOT) has introduced Studio 101, an entertainment venue for ages 21+ in Honolulu, featuring live music, fashion shows, and vocal concerts. For more information, please visit the HOT website: HawaiiOpera.org.
- Hawaiʻi State Public Library System free events at public libraries this December include Honolulu Theatre for Youth performances of “Step by Step” (Kauaʻi-Lihue library December 1, Kauaʻi-Hanapepe library December 1), “Tinker Tuesday” makerspace at the Maui-Lahaina library December 6, and “Wednesday Family Crafts” at the Hawaiʻi-Mountain View library December 7. Learn more about public library events on the Hawaiʻi State Public Library System website: LibrariesHawaii.org/events .
- Hawaiʻi Symphony Orchestra upcoming live events include “Beyond the Music: Beloved Brahms” at Moanalua High School, December 8, and “Hapa Symphony” featuring Kimié Miner at the Hawaiʻi Theatre, December 10. For more information please visit the Hawaiʻi Symphony Orchestra website at MyHSO.org/concerts.
- Honolulu Mayor’s Office of Culture and the Arts (MOCA) and Aupuni Place “Recollecting Poi, Pikake and Paniolos” exhibit by Amber Khan, previously on view at Honolulu Hale, is on view at the Hawaiʻi State Library through the end of December 2022. For more information, please visit the MOCA website: HonoluluMOCA.org/recollecting-poi-pikake-and-paniolos-by-amber-khan.
- Honolulu Theatre for Youth presents “The Paʻakai We Bring”, an original theater production introducing young audiences to Native Hawaiian ideas of balance and healing by exploring our relationship to paʻakai (salt). December 4 and December 11. Learn more on the HTY website: HTYweb.org.
- Kamuela Philharmonic: West Hawaiʻi Woodwind Quintent at Keauhou Shopping Center Sunday December 11, 12:00 – 1:00 p.m.
- Making Waves Films presents “I of the Water: The Unwritten Life of Sia Figiel” a work-in-progress documentary screening followed by a discussion with filmmaker and humanities scholars. Supported by the Academy for Creative Media Mānoa, Hawaiʻi Women in Filmmaking, Hawaiʻi Council for the Humanities, and the National Endowment for the Humanities. December 1, 1:30 – 4:00 p.m. University of Hawaiʻi-Mānoa, St. John Plant Science Lab Room 11.
- Manoa Valley Theatre presents “The Game’s Afoot, or Holmes for the Holidays” through December 4. For more information, please visit the MVT website: ManoaValleyTheatre.com.
- National Assembly of State Arts Agencies (NASAA) “Untapped Opportunity: Older Americans and the Arts” free online seminar, December 6, 10:00 a.m. Hawaiʻi Standard Time. A free web seminar from the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies, Untapped Opportunity: Older Americans & the Arts, explores new research about the priorities of older adults who engage with the arts. The seminar springs from a groundbreaking Culture Track report that suggests how organizations can develop responsive and inclusive strategies for serving older adults. The one-hour session is designed for arts nonprofits serving older adults, state and local government agencies, arts advocates, and organizations funding creative aging programs. All organizations that are pursuing arts based creative aging initiatives are welcome to participate as well. Learn more and register on the NASAA website: nasaa-arts.org/nasaa-2023-learning-series/#older.
- National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Film “Roots of American Culture: A Cross-Country Visit with Living Treasures of the Folk and Traditional Arts” is now available to view online for free. Master Hawaiian Hale Builder Francis “Palani” Sinenci is one of the 2022 NEA National Heritage Fellows featured in the film. View online: YouTube.com/user/NEAarts.
- National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Webinar on Creative Placemaking December 7, 8:00 – 9:00 a.m. Hawaiʻi Standard Time (2:00 – 3:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time). NEA Chair Dr. Maria Rosario Jackson reflects on what it means to build arts-infused civic infrastructure at this historic moment of federal investment that is reshaping communities. You’ll also hear inspiring reports about two Our Town projects that exemplify this vision through deep cross-sector partnerships that position arts, culture, and design to advance equitable outcomes. Learn more and register on the NEA website: arts.gov/news/events/reflections-nea-chair-dr-maria-rosario-jackson-asian-arts-initiative-friends-rail-park-and-ideas.
- 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.
- Small Town Big Art Story Festival: six new animated film shorts that celebrate Maui history, culture, and sense of place. ʻĪao Theater (68 N Market St, Wailuku, Maui), Tuesday December 20, 2022, 5:30 – 7:00 p.m. Free with registration. For more information and to reserve a seat, please visit the Maui Public Art Corps website: MauiPublicArt.org/events.html.
- University of Hawaiʻi-Mānoa Department of Art and Art History
- “Tadashi Sato: Atomic Abstraction in the Fiftieth State, 1954-1963” through December 3, 2022 at the University of Hawaiʻi-Mānoa Art Gallery.The first major exhibition of Sato’s works in over twenty years, the show features never-before-seen artworks and archival materials to demonstrate that Sato’s painting was the site of significant and ongoing public conversations in Hawaiʻi pitting abstraction against representation, debating the value of public art, and speculating on who audiences would be for art in the new state of Hawaiʻi. For more information, please visit the UHM Department of Art and Art History website: hawaii.edu/art/tadashi_sato.
- “The Graphic Works of Tetsuo Ochikubo, 1956-1970” through December 4, 2022, at the John Young Museum of Art. Tetsuo Ochikubo (b. 1923, Waipahu, HI; d. 1975, Kawaihae, HI) was a Japanese-American artist who worked in painting, sculpture and printmaking. For more information, please visit the UHM Department of Art and Art History website: hawaii.edu/art/the-graphic-works-of-tetsuo-ochikubo.
- University of Hawaiʻi-Mānoa (UHM) Better Tomorrow Speaker Series: incisive conversations on the most important questions of our time. Learn more and register on the UHM website: manoa.hawaii.edu/speakers
- January 2023: Tina Stege, Climate Envoy for the Government of the Republic of the Marshall Islands. Details to be announced.