During the month of October, the Waimea Arts Council is presenting their annual juried art show, open to all WAC members, new and long-standing. The show will be on exhibit from October 5 – 29 at the Firehouse Gallery in Waimea. Included are paintings in all mediums, drawings, sculptures, and photographs from artists all over the island.
The show is held every year in honor of Helen Cassidy, who was instrumental in establishing the Waimea Arts Council over 35 years ago. Helen passed away on April 8, 1985. Her efforts to establish and promote the Waimea Arts Council culminated in the Firehouse Gallery, their most visible program.
This year’s invited juror is Kauanoe Chang, an Oahu native who has long been in the forefront of art & education. As a student, she was attracted to art from early on. She eventually studied at UH Manoa with many well-known artist/teachers before beginning her art-focused career with the DOE as a curriculum developer of the Hawaiian Studies and Arts Education Programs.
Since 2000 she’s resided here on the Big Island living in Kamuela. She’s been a support specialist assisting nine schools in the three northern districts of this island while also actively participating in a number of important art gatherings of indigenous peoples. Most recently she helped establish HOEA, a school for Native Hawaiian arts in South Kohala. She feels her own paintings are “imprints of my genetic makeup…pictorial stories of who I am, what I have experienced and they tell of times past and present.” And further feels that “Visual art is the vehicle through which I and other Hawaiian artists, can depict who we are, by using icons and symbols found in our culture and history. Our Hawai’i, past and present, is the Mother Lode of inspiration.”
The Waimea Arts Council is privileged to have such a fine educator/artist as this year’s jurist and we thank her for her time and effort to help make this show possible.
Friends and the public are invited to a reception on Saturday, October 7 from 3 – 5 pm at the Firehouse Gallery, where awards will be presented to the following artists:
Best of Show: Carolyn Lancaster “Read My Paw”, watercolor
1st:Trish Helm Kimball “Storm Clouds on the Range” pastel
2nd: Ilmar Reinvald “Cove at Waialea Bay” oil
3rd: Julie McCue “A Lovely Bunch of Coconuts” watercolor
Honorable Mention:
Judith Wilson “View From My Window” fiber art
Christian Marinello “Mana” granite
