Wailoa Center and the Hawaii Island Art Alliance will host the MidSummer Art Celebration 2018, All Media Juried Exhibit from June 1-27 in the Hilo center’s Main and Fountain galleries.
Everyone is invited to an opening reception for the artists from 5-7 p.m. Friday at the center. HIAA will present awards and introduce exhibit juror Michael Takemoto. Light refreshments will be served.
Takemoto will be hosting a gallery walk about the exhibit and talk about his choices beginning at 11 am. Saturday. The event is free and open to the public.
To kokua Puna lava flow evacuees, the public is invited to bring nonperishable items. Kauai artist Sally French has donated two large crates to be filled with supplies needed by the hundreds of displaced residents and pets.
Artists from throughout the state and mainland have entered this year’s MidSummer Art Celebration. A total of 192 entries were submitted, giving Takemoto the arduous task of selecting 79 artists who will display 103 works of art in the exhibit.
Takemoto is a visual artist and associate professor of art at the University of Hawaii Maui College. He received a bachelor of fine arts in drawing, painting and printmaking from the UH-Manoa. He earned master’s degrees in drawing and painting from Northern Illinois University.
Takemoto has served as a visual arts consultant for the Hawaii State Foundation on Culture and the Arts. He has been a juror for a number of statewide exhibitions and organizations including the Hawaii Art Education Association, the Schaefer Portrait Challenge and Malama Wao Akua.
Hawaii Island Art Alliance is a nonprofit arts organization whose mission is to support art in the community and currently supports art programming at Wailoa Center. For more information or to find out about volunteer opportunities for HIAA, email: hiartalliance@gmail.com.
Wailoa Center is a Division of State Parks, Department of Land and Natural Resources. It is free and open to the public 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. The center is closed Saturday, Sunday and state holidays. For more information, call 933-0416, email wailoa@yahoo.com or visit wailoacenter.com.