Projects and events supported in part by funding from the Hawaiʻi State Foundation on Culture and the Arts (SFCA).
Leeward Community College opens new art gallery on campus, first exhibit sponsored in part by SFCA grant funding
The new Hōʻikeākea Gallery at Leeward Community College (LCC) in Pearl City (Oʻahu) 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. The exhibition at Hōʻikeākea Gallery runs May 1–August 25, 2023 and is supported in part by funding from the SFCA.
Lahaina Arts Guild has provided no-cost art instruction to 3,000 Maui students
In May 2023, Lahaina Arts Guild provided art instruction to its 3,000th student since July 2022 at King Kamehameha Elementary. The organization provides no-cost arts classes, supplies, and professional instruction to schools and communities throughout Maui, and is supported in part by an SFCA Biennium Grant.
Maui Academy of Performing Arts’ Academy Program engages over 600 children and youth
The Maui Academy of Performing Arts has reported “Maui Academy of Performing Arts (MAPA) provides weekly classes in ballet, jazz, tap, hip hop, contemporary, lyrical, creative movement, creative drama, acting, and musical theatre for students of all levels and abilities- ages three years old to kupuna. The Academy Program supported by the Biennium Grants fiscal year 2023 engaged 633 children and youth, 36 adults, and directly involved 12 teaching artists. MAPA continues to evaluate the programs offered to ensure the community needs are being met. The variety of programs increases enrollment, contributes to job creation and retention in the arts sector, and helps diversify Maui’s economy. Participation in arts engagement activities develops flexibility, creative thinking, communication, and collaboration.”
Honolulu Theatre for Youth (HTY) new episode “Bringing Paʻakai” on television documents Native Hawaiian practice of cultivating salt
The episode features clips from Honolulu Theatre for Youth‘s recent show, “The Paʻakai We Bring”, and documents the native Hawaiian practice of cultivating paʻakai (salt). The team traveled to Hanapēpē, Kauaʻi to learn from the families who have worked the salt beds for generations. The episode aired in June 2023 on K5.
Hawaiʻi International Film Festival presents in-flight programming on Hawaiian Airlines, including Robin Lung’s “Nancy Bannick: Saving Honolulu’s Chinatown”
The Hawaiʻi International Film Festival (HIFF) has been presenting in-flight programming celebrating and showcasing Hawaiʻi’s filmmakers and locally produced short films in partnership with Hawaiian Airlines. From April – July 2023, one of the featured films is “Nancy Bannick: Saving Honolulu’s Chinatown”, a short documentary film supported in part by an SFCA American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) grant.
HIFF also received an SFCA ARPA grant for their 41st annual Hawaiʻi International Film Festival. As of 2022, HIFF has showcased 28 HIFF Made in Hawaiʻi Films on Hawaiian Airlines transpacific flights. Learn more about the program on the HIFF website: hiff.org/hawaiian-airlines-in-flight-programming.
Image: photograph of Hōʻikeākea Gallery at Leeward Community College during the opening reception for the “ʻAi Pōhaku, Stone Eaters” exhibit. Photo credit: Leeward Community College.