Spring Session, Kamehameha & King Kekaulike

April 30, 2011In April, we launched 34 new spring classes & workshops with a cumulative attendance of 356 students and studio users of all ages, welcoming 4 visiting artists to the Hui roster from California (Kathleen Alexander) and neighbor Hawaiian Islands (Erika & Robert Molyneux and Daven Hee). Kamehameha Schools’ 1st grade class enjoyed workshops customized to their curriculum that also complemented the Darrell Orwig Retrospective (Airplane Block Printing, Nature inspired Mobile Design and Orwig-Inspired Plein Air Painting), and were thrilled by the opportunity to meet and talk story with the artist himself. We also hosted the annual team-building event for Whole Foods Market as well as the 6th annual King Kekaulike High School Student Arts Integrated Showcase, attended by 200+ teens, teachers and parents. “Like the Hui, our public schools are facing very tough economic challenges right now, with the arts under serious budgetary scrutiny as Congress considers how best to develop reading, writing and arithmetic,” remarked Susan Scofield, Principal of King Kekaulike High School, “art is what makes life interesting and worthwhile- it grabs a student’s interest and engages them in a new way that other subjects may not. It is too great a sacrifice, and one we need to come together to voice our support of as a community. This event is a celebration of the spirit of King Kekaulike; it is an exhibition of the application of all of the skills they have learned and practiced; it is a way for not only parents and families, but the entire community, to behold the heart and soul of these young lives. The Hui is a perfect venue for these students, who rarely have the opportunity to showcase their work in such a beautiful, community-based venue where everyone is welcome to experience their work. Please come see for yourself! Check out the cooperative atmosphere in all its delightful forms. Support the arts both in our public schools as well as in this beautiful place.” Right on!

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