Arts director quits over photo misuse

The executive director of the State Foundation on Culture and the Arts has opted to resign after the group’s recent, admitted misuse of a photo of a Hawaiian icon, according to the foundation chairwoman.

Eva Laird Smith informed the board commission during its executive session Wednesday that she would resign effective Dec. 31, according to commission Chairwoman Barbara  Saromines-Ganne. 

The board did not ask Laird Smith to resign, Saromines-Ganne said.

However, the move came after the commission’s impassioned, emotionally charged public meeting Wednesday regarding the foundation’s improper use of a photo of revered Hawaiian kumu hula ‘Iolani Luahine to plug Hawai‘i Fashion Month and to sell coffee mugs, T-shirts, tote bags and other merchandise.

Saromines-Ganne said the board intended to investigate the incident, which left many local artists deeply concerned and many in the Native Hawaiian community outraged.

Saromines-Ganne added that she hoped that Laird Smith’s resignation would help the foundation to regain the confidence of many in the local artist and Native Hawaiian circles.

In the 1968 black-and-white photo, taken by late photographer Francis Haar and part of the foundation’s collection, Luahine stands with her traditional kihei shawl trailing behind her in the wind. She is believed to be leading a chant to appease Pele, the fire goddess.

It was never supposed to be used to plug fashion events or sell merchandise.

Many were especially outraged because the doctored image removes Lua­hine’s head.

The issue simmered for weeks before reaching a boil Wednesday at the foundation’s quarterly board meeting, where commissioners listened to more than two hours of testimony.

Several said the incident raised questions about whether the foundation, under Laird Smith, could fulfill its mission to protect local artists and keep their works from being improperly released into the public sphere.

For many Native Hawaiians, the incident was demeaning and opened familiar wounds for a culture that has long been exploited for commercial gain.

During its meeting on Kauai last week, the Association of Hawaiian Civic Clubs was “shocked and horrified to learn that the image you used … was cropped to remove a portion of Aunty ‘Io’s head,” Annelle Amaral, the association’s vice president, told the foundation commission in a prepared statement. The association has 68 affiliate clubs in Hawaii and 15 states.

“The delegates are absolutely opposed to your exploitive use of ‘Iolani Lua­hine’s photo in any way, shape or form,” Amaral said. Minutes later, she left the meeting in frustration after a tense exchange with Commissioner Clifford Kapono.

Foundation leaders acknowledged the mistake Wednesday.

They did not dispute that the foundation violated an agreement with Haar’s son, photographer Tom Haar, and its own ethical standards when it used the cropped Luahine image to advertise an Oct. 4 “The Way We Wear” fashion show at the museum and to sell merchandise.

Excerpts of the agreement provided by Haar state that the foundation would need his consent before using his father’s photography for commercial use.

“It was wrong. It was illegal. We apologize for it,” Saromines-Ganne said at the meeting.

The merchandise garnered some $120 in sales, and the foundation destroyed the remaining items after the controversy hit, Garomines-Ganne said. Haar said Laird Smith told him the sales proceeds would eventually be given to him.

A contractor hired to work on the foundation’s website was asked to design the event poster and “he used the image mistakenly.”

Saromines-Ganne told a group of about 30 people who packed into the state art museum’s multipurpose room Wednesday. “To make matters worse … it was then branded” on the items for sale, she said.

Nonetheless, several who spoke at the meeting said the foundation’s leadership should be held accountable for giving the contractor those images, and that they must take steps so agreements with artists aren’t broken again.

Andrew Rose, director of the Andrew Rose Gallery in downtown Honolulu and a member of the Friends of the Hawai‘i State Art Museum, called it a “highly unusual breach of protocol” at the museum for the Haar images to wind up in the wrong hands.

Laird Smith, who spoke only briefly at Wednesday’s commission meeting, said she gave a disc of images to the designer but did not inspect those images beforehand. She added that the images were part of a state Legislature-mandated effort to photograph the state’s art collection so it eventually could be placed online for public view.

She did not return phone messages left for comment after the meeting.

Improperly reproducing artworks in the digital age is “an international problem,” said Duane Preble, a University of Hawaii professor emeritus of art. More people are trying to get in on the “power” of the arts with their duplication being made easier, and “this thing is quite common,” he said Wednesday.