Mini-exhibit at Hawaiʻi State Art Museum features recent additions to public art collection

“Recent Acquisitions: Art in Public Places” is a mini-exhibit at Capitol Modern: the Hawaiʻi State Art Museum. On display in glass cases on the ground floor of the building, next to the MORI gift shop. The exhibit is open through the end of May 2026.

This mini-exhibit showcases artworks recently purchased for the Hawaiʻi State Foundation on Culture and the Arts (SFCA) Art in Public Places Collection. This public art collection is displayed in hundreds of state government sites across Hawaiʻi, including schools, libraries, and the Hawaiʻi State Capitol building. Explore the collection online at sfca.hawaii.gov/app-art (link will redirect to an Axiell site).

“Accessions 2026”, a larger exhibit of recent additions to the SFCA Art in Public Places Collection, is planned for later this year.

Artworks in the exhibit:

• “Life in Balance”, Derek Bencomo. Norfolk Island pine wood carved vessel, 2025. Purchased from the “2025 Hawaiʻi Craftsmen Annual Statewide Exhibition” at the Downtown Art Center.
• “Kalo 2”, Mealaaloha Bishop. Oil on canvas painting, 2024. Purchased from the 2025 “LIVING SOVEREIGN” exhibition at Aupuni Space.
• “Pot Diver” and “Pot Diver – Thrive!” by Kris Goto. Drawing on paper, 2024. Purchased from the 2025 “My Monumental Summer: Live, Love, Paint: Summer Edition” exhibition at Hōʻikeākea Gallery, Leeward Community College.
• “Rising from the Sea”, Kate Jacobson and Will Jacobson. Ceramic sculpture, 2025. Purchased from the “2025 Hawaiʻi Craftsmen Annual Statewide Exhibition” at the Downtown Art Center.
• “Lei Sellers” (series) Kate Kelly. Photographs, circa 1930. Purchased from the “River to Richards Documentary Photography in Hawaiʻi 2025” exhibition at the Downtown Art Center.
  • “Lei Seller, Aloha Tower”
  • “Man Selling Lei”
  • “Two Men Selling Lei”
  •  “Woman Lei Makers at Aloha Tower”
  • “Family Selling Lei at Aloha Tower”
  • “Young Girls Selling Lei”
• “Nomads”, David Kiyabu. Marble and wood sculpture, 2025. Purchased from the “Journeys” exhibit at Bishop Square, 2025.
• “Nui Heʻe Makau”, Jason Liu. Wood sculpture, 2024. Purchased from the “2025 Hawaiʻi Craftsmen Annual Statewide Exhibition” at the Downtown Art Center.
• “Kapa Papale”, Verna Apio Takashima. Textile/kapa, natural dyes, acrylic paint, 2024. Purchased from the “E Ola Ke Kahua O Ka Hana Kapa” exhibition at Kahilu Theatre, 2025.
• “Pā Puaʻa a Kāne”, Cory Kamehanaokalā Holt Taum. Acrylic and aerosol paint painting, 2016. Purchased from the 2025 “KULEANA” exhibit at Gallery ʻIolani, Windward Community College.
• “Innovation”, Russell Edwin Wee. Clay vessel, 2025. Purchased from the Hawaiʻi Craftsmen “Raku Hoʻolauleʻa 2025” exhibition at the Downtown Art Center.
• “Heat: Fiery Uliʻuli”, Jennifer Wood. Feathers, lāʻamia pod, aliʻipoe seeds, 2025. Purchased from the “2025 Hawaiʻi Craftsmen Annual Statewide Exhibition” at the Downtown Art Center.
• “The Divine in the Everyday” (series) Nancy Kay Turner. Mixed media sculptures, 2024. Purchased from the “Many Hands, Many Journeys” 2025 exhibit at Kahilu Theatre.
  • “Forever”
  • “Beauty with Dinosaur”
  • “Her Skin”
  • “Why Not Sleep in a Flower”
  • “What Does it Matter?”
  • “Light of My Life (Bread)”
  • “Oh! How Little is Enough”
  • “You Aspire to Glory”
  • “Senza Titolo, (I even saw her hand)”
  • “Rusted”
  • “For Our Illusions”
  • “Onlooker”
  • “No More Moral Events”
  • “My Heart is the Greatest”
  • “Faced With Existence”
  • “No Illusions”
  • “Cousserances Sept 3, 1947”
  • “Pleasure Keeps its Own…”
  • “My Heart Marks the Miracle”
  • “Stuck in Their Arms”

Museum information

Capitol Modern: the Hawaiʻi State Art Museum
250 South Hotel Street
Honolulu, HI 96813
CapitolModern.org

Wednesday – Saturday 10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.
Evening hours during special events
Free admission

Upcoming museum events

• Island Pulse roots and reggae music night, Friday May 15, 5:00 – 9:00 p.m. Free admission, all ages welcome.
• Hoʻohui live music, art workshops, and community resource night. Friday, May 22, 4:00 – 9:00 p.m. Free admission, all ages welcome.
• Uni: Rhythms of the Indigenous Philippines outdoor concert. Saturday, May 30, 1:00 – 3:30 p.m. Free admission, all ages welcome. Limited seating.

Artwork in image

Artwork in promotional graphic: “Beauty with Dinosaur”, “The Divine in the Everyday” series by Nancy Kay Turner, 2024. Art in Public Places Collection of the State Foundation on Culture and the Arts.