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Arts and Culture Calendar (June 2023)

May 31, 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.

Shorter versions of these monthly lists are published in the SFCA email newsletter. Read past issues and subscribe: SFCA email newsletter archive and signup form.

Workshops and Classes

  • Hawaiʻi Women in Filmmaking Summer Reel Camps – filmmaking programs for girls and non-binary youth aged 12-19 years old. Animation: June 3 – 24. Basic Reel: July 10 – 21. Advanced Reel: July 24 – 28. For more information please visit the Hawaiʻi Women in Filmmaking website: HawaiiWomenInFilmmaking.org/reel-camps.
  • Hui Noʻeau Youth Art Camps (Maui, Makawao)
    • Summer Camp Kaluanui 2023 (ages 6-10 years). Diverse visual arts projects to exercise imagination, keep the body active, and develop individual self-expression and creativity. May 29 – July 28.
    • Teens and Tweens Art Academy (ages 11+). Develop creativity and fundamental art skills by exploring the wide variety of art media offered at the Hui. Session 1: June 19-23. Session 2: July 17-21.
    • To learn more and register, and to see more classes for youth and adults, please visit the Hui Noʻeau website: HuiNoeau.com/all-classes.
  • Kahilu Theatre Summer 2023 Workshops for Kids (Hawaiʻi Island, Waimea)
    • 2023 Kahilu Performing Arts Workshop/Camp July 17-28. Summer musical theater and performing arts camp. Ages 7-12 years.
    • Prince Dance Company, Aerial Dance Camp June 27-July 1. Aerial silks, trapeze, and lyra. Beginners and intermediate aerialists welcome, ages 8 – 18 years.
    • Kapena School of Music July 1-August 4. Beginner to intermediate level ʻukulele, voice, and intro to music theory. Ages 7-13 years.
    • For more information and to register: kahilu.jumbula.com/#/kahilu-performing-arts-workshop-camp-kpaw.
  • Leeward Community College(LCC) (Pearl City, Oʻahu) Spotlight: A Musical Theater Performance Workshop June 19-30, 11:30 a.m. – 1:00 p.m., Monday – Friday. Ages 12 and up. For more information and to register, please go to the LCC website: go.hawaii.edu/XVW.
  • Manoa Valley Theatre Studio Classes – TV and Film Technique with Brandon Karrer July 18 – September 5, (ages 16 and up) and Improvisation with Shannon Winpenny (ages 18 and up), July 20 – September 7, 2023. Learn more on the Manoa Valley Theatre website: ManoaValleyTheatre.com/mvtstudio.
  • 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.
    • Laʻau Lapaʻau Workshop with Sister Malia Wong, June 16
    • MHC Open Studio Paper Club with Printing Demo, June 17

Art Exhibitions

  • Donkey Mill Art Center (Hawaiʻi Island) “Mai Ka Pouli: (Re)Presentations of Moananuiākea through July 8, 2023. Free admission. Exhibition catalog launch party Thursday, June 1, 5:30 – 7:30 p.m. For more information, please visit the Donkey Mill Art Center website: DonkeyMillArtCenter.org/event/?event=4341.
  • Downtown Art Center “Documentary Photography 2023” June 2 – July 1, 2023. For more information, please visit the DAC website: DowntownArtHi.org.
  • East Hawaiʻi Cultural Center (EHCC) “Every Body is All We Have” exhibit June 16 – 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.
  • Garden Club of Honolulu “Oceans: Beyond the Reef” show at Honolulu Museum of Art, June 23-25. Last November, the annual Conservation Study Conference hosted by the Garden Club of America presented “Protecting Island Earth,” featuring cultural practitioners and scientists, such as Nainoa Thompson and Chipper Wichman, who shared the ancient Hawaiian practice of coaxing greater health and abundance from the ecosystem by adopting cultural values to improve scientific outcomes. This bio-cultural approach, which once allowed more than a million Native Hawaiians to live in abundance with limited resources over a thousand years, is being paired with modern science and technology in Hawai‘i and abroad to mitigate climate change and heal our planet. Segments from the virtual conference will be screened in the Doris Duke Theatre during the flower show. Learn more on the Honolulu Museum of Art website: HonoluluMuseum.org.
  • 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. For more information, please contact the Hawaiʻi Handweavers Hui at [email protected] or visit their website at HawaiiHandweavers.org.
  • Hawaiʻi State Art Museum free admission, Monday – Saturday 10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.; evening hours for special events. Exhibits: hisam.hawaii.gov/exhibits. Events: hisam.hawaii.gov/calendar.
    • First Friday, June 2, 6:00 – 9:00 p.m. Queer Arts Festival. Free admission.
    • The Vibe, June 9, 6:00 – 9:00 p.m. Live music performances in the outdoor Sculpture Garden. Free admission.
    • “Not All Backpacks Carry the Same Weight” exhibit through Monday, June 5.
    • “2023 Young Artists of Hawaiʻi” exhibit through July 8.
    • “Accession: Recent Additions to the Art in Public Places Collection” through 2023.
  • Honolulu Mayor’s Office of Culture and Arts presents “Aloha ‘Āina Art by Hawaiʻi’s Keiki and ʻŌpio” art exhibit at Kapolei Hale bringing together local groups and organizers that are actively working together to protect our wai and to express their love for our ʻāina. Artworks include a series done by Mānoa Elementary students during an SFCA Artists in the Schools residency with author and poet Laurel Nakanishi. Previously displayed at Honolulu Hale, the exhibit is in Kapolei June 2-23, 2023. For more information, please visit the Honolulu MOCA website: HonoluluMOCA.org/aloha-aina-art-by-hawaiis-keiki-and-pio.
  • Honolulu Printmakers 95th Annual Juried Exhibition, Downtown Art Center, Courtyard Gallery. June 2-30, 2023.
  • Kahilu Theatre Gallery “Legacies: Paniolo of Waimea” exhibit, June 8 – August 13, 2023. For more information, please visit the Kahilu Theatre website: KahiluTheatre.org/Exhibits/Current-Exhibit.
  • Kauaʻi Society of Artists, KSA Gallery (Kukui Grove Center, Lihue)
    • “Washed Up” 5th annual marine debris art exhibit. All art created using at least 50% man-made marine debris. June 3-23, 2023. Artist reception June 8. For more information, please visit the KSA website: KauaiSocietyOfArtists.org/exhibitions.html.
    • “Leonora Orr with Artful Friends” July 6-30
    • “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. Grand opening Saturday April 29, exhibit open through August 25, 2023.
  • Loʻi Gallery at American Savings Bank (downtown Honolulu) featuring Cameron Brooks, Saumolia Puapuaga, Spencer Chang, and Stephen Yuen through May 2023. Learn more about the exhibit and how to showcase your art in the Loʻi Gallery on the American Savings Bank Hawaiʻi website: asbhawaii.com/loigallery.
  • Wailoa Arts Center 2023 Exhibits (Hilo, Hawaiʻi Island)
    • “6th Annual MidSummer Art Celebration” June 2-28, 2023
    • “In the Time of Climate Change” July 7-27, 2023
    • “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.
  • University of Hawaiʻi-Mānoa Department of Art and Art History
    • “Emotional Identity” student-curated exhibit in the Commons Gallery, May 21 – July 2, 2023. Learn more on the UHM Art and Art History Department website: hawaii.edu/art/exhibitions-events-museum.

Performances and Presentations

  • 2023 Hawaiian Steel Guitar Festival at Windward Mall (Oʻahu) Saturday, June 10, 2023 at Kāne’ohe’s Windward Mall. This festival will begin at 11:00 A.M. and feature your favorite steel guitar masters from O’ahu singing and playing Hawai’i’s favorite Hawaiian music. The festival will be live-streamed on the Hawaiian Steel Guitar Showcase’s Facebook page and YouTube Channel as a part of the Showcase’s festival presentations. This festival will be presented free to the public by Hawaii Institute for Music Enrichment and Learning Experiences (HIMELE) and the Windward Mall and is supported in part by a grant from the SFCA. For more information, please visit the HIMELE website: himele.org/hmevents.html.
  • Donkey Mill Art Center artist talk “Building Our Own Canoe: Activating Indigenous Authority in Art, Museums and Community” online presentation on Zoom, June 15, 2023. 4:00 – 5:30 p.m. For more information and to register, please visit the Donkey Mill Art Center website: DonkeyMillArtCenter.org/event/?event=4412.
  • Hawaiʻi State Public Library System free events at public libraries include storytime, crafting, and music performances. Learn more about public library events on the Hawaiʻi State Public Library System website: LibrariesHawaii.org/events. Below are a few of the upcoming events.
    • “An Era of Change: Oral Histories of Civilians in World War II Hawaiʻi”, Thelma Parker Memorial Public and School Library (Waimea, Hawaiʻi Island), June 20, 11:30 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.
    • “Folk Arts of China with Barbara Chung Ho”, Liliha Public Library (Oʻahu), June 22, 1:00 – 2:30 p.m. Limited space, must register in advance.
    • “Hula Kuʻi with Muʻolaulani”, Pearl City Public Library (Oʻahu), June 25, 2:00 – 2:45 p.m.
  • Honolulu Theatre for Youth’s television show, “The HI Way”, is available online for HTY members: membership.htyweb.org/about-the-hi-way.
  • Manoa Valley Theatre presents “The Play That Goes Wrong” extended through June 4; “Once Upon One Nodda Time” June 29 – July 9; “The Chinese Lady” July 13-30. For more information, please visit the MVT website: ManoaValleyTheatre.com.
  • Kahilu Theatre presents “Legacy of Pāʻū with Barbara Nobriga” Friday June 16, 7:00 p.m. The documentary showcases the legacy of Barbara Nobriga and the art of pā’ū wrapping. Free; seating on a first come, first served basis. For more information please visit the Kahilu Theatre website: KahiluTheatre.org/Showinfo/Legacy-of-P——-with-Barbara-Nobriga.
  • Friends of the Palace Theatre Celebration of Hawaiian Music Series focuses on promoting, preserving, and perpetuating the artistic expression of Hawaiian culture through music and song. The development of the concert series was based on community and visitor feedback, and the impact of preserving oral traditions through music and stories for future generations. Learn more and purchase tickets on the Palace Theatre website: HiloPalace.com/hpt_event_categories/concerts-events.
    • Makana, June 9, 7:00 p.m. Makana is on tour in support of his newest album Pūlama: Legacies of Hawai’i, celebrating the rich heritage of kī hō’alu (slack key guitar), ‘ukulele, and leo (voice).
    • The Mākaha Sons, June 17, 7:00 p.m. For 40 years, the Mākaha Sons have committed themselves to perpetuating traditional Hawaiian music throughout Hawai`i and around the globe.
  • 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.
    • Julian Aguon, Indigenous human rights lawyer, Thursday, September 21, 2023 (details to be announced). Learn more and register on the UHM website: manoa.hawaii.edu/speakers.
  • The Windward Choral Society presents Dan Forrest’s “Jubilante Deo” June 11, 4:00 – 5:00 p.m. For more information, please visit the Windward Choral Society website: TheWindwardChoralSociety.org.

Image: promotional graphic for the 2023 Midsummer Art Celebration at Wailoa Center (Hilo, Hawaiʻi Island). Opening reception June 2, 5:00 -7:00 p.m. Art demonstrations June 3, 10:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. Juror gallery tours June 3, 10:30 – 11:30 a.m. and 1:00 – 2:00 p.m. The Wailoa Center is part of the State of Hawaiʻi Department of Land and Natural Resources, Division of State Parks, and is open to the public Monday – Friday 8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m., free of charge.

This post was last updated on June 9, 2023.

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