The third annual Banyan Drive Art Stroll is slated for noon-6 p.m. Saturday (Jan. 12) and features exhibits, awards, prizes, entertainment and activities throughout the Banyan Drive area.
A judged art exhibit will be available for viewing, and strollers can vote for People’s Choice in the Palm Room at the Grand Naniloa Resort. Judge Emily Catey Weiss of the Volcano Art Center will be on hand to present awards for first-place selection Jared Goodwin’s “Mokuola Sunset,” second-place “Red Bridge” by Bonnie Sol Hahn and third-place selection “Good Morning” by Jay Takaaze, with honorable mention to Stephen Davies for his “Just Walking the Dog.”
The People’s Choice award will be presented after the event when votes are counted.
A photography exhibit is planned at Hilo Bay Cafe, which also will include voting for People’s Choice. The grand prize will be presented at 2 p.m. by Paradise Helicopters to Takaaze, whose image “Morning Moon” was selected for the cover of the 2019 Friends of Lili‘uokalani Gardens calendar.
Judge for the calendar was Mary Goodrich.
Artists at work are a featured item of the Banyan Drive Art Stroll. Plein air artists will be in Lili‘uokalani Gardens from noon-3 p.m., including members of the Hilo Plein Air Group. Photographers will give tours/talks at the sites of their calendar images during the same time frame.
Patti Pease Johnson will demonstrate pastel painting at the Waioli Lounge at the Hilo Hawaiian Hotel from 2-6 p.m. Brandon Tengan will demonstrate gyotaku (fish printing) from 3-4 p.m. at Suisan, and Ken Charon will demonstrate painting in the Palm Room of the Grand Naniloa Resort from 2-6 p.m.
Entertainment is scheduled throughout the day, starting with Puna Taiko at noon near Banyan Gallery. Puna Taiko will move to an area outside Hilo Bay Cafe about 1 p.m. Harpist Cymber Quin will play in the Waioli Lounge from 2-3 p.m.
Desiree Moana Cruz will be mistress of ceremonies at the lobby lounge of the Grand Naniloa. Featured performers are Christy Lassiter and Friends from noon-2 p.m., Kainani Kahaunaele from 2-4 p.m. and Mark Yamanaka from 4-6 p.m.
A complete schedule of events at each venue is available on the Friends of Lili‘uokalani Gardens Facebook page. A printed map brochure with the schedule will be available at all sponsor locations along the stroll.
Sponsors for the third annual Banyan Drive Art Stroll include Banyan Gallery, Suisan Fish Market, Hilo Bay Cafe, Pandamonia’s Paleta Palace, county Parks and Recreation Department, Hilo Hawaiian Hotel, Grand Naniloa Resort, Paradise Helicopters, Akamai Art Supply, Cunningham Gallery and the Friends of Lili‘uokalani Gardens.