What started five years ago as an experiment on the campus of Windward Community College has opened a window to the world of the arts — performing, visual and language — for young and old alike.
Four-year-old Bennett Tice donned a green dragon costume, and his best friend, Tavia Craigo, 4, dressed in pink as a queen to attend the Paliku Art Festival on Saturday.
Bennett’s grandmother Ann Cosson said she hopes public schools renew an emphasis on arts education because she knows what it did for her.
"Art teaches problem solving, teaches critical thinking and it’s very challenging," said Cosson, whose background is in art. "With the right teachers, they learn how to explore every aspect, from math to philosophy to history."
While in college, Cosson said, she had difficulty with calculus but eventually earned an A.
"Art is what helped me get to that place," she said.
Ben Moffatt, co-founder of the festival and former WCC professor of drama, said he dreamed of an "arts village, a place where art is going on all the time, where you can chase a clown or be chased by a clown."
And just as in his dream, Moffat was seen clowning around the lawn and halls of the campus Saturday, along with red, bulbous-nosed performing artists.
"The energy is so nice because people are able to make things, express themselves," Moffat said.
Among the events Saturday were clinics on writing haikus and screenplays, music and performances at Paliku Theatre.
Another popular place was the ceramics studio, with rows of stainless-steel kilns, high ceilings and large windows, where children molded clay.
Kaimuki resident Noel Villamil’s 6-year-old daughter made a pinch pot with flower designs.
Art "can help them learn how to express themselves and learn about themselves as well," he said.
By having the arts festival on a college campus with student volunteers, the children "can look forward to appreciating art as students one day."
Charise Michelsen, 32, said she liked the music and activities, which introduced her children, ages 5 and 7, to different art forms, including painting, drawing and ceramics. She said art exposes children to different cultures, and because WCC is an educational institution, the positive experience may motivate them "to go to school later in life if they enjoy it."
WCC Chancellor Douglas Dykstra said the festival has been a success each year and is "really a gift to the community," where entry and materials are free of charge, and artists and faculty members donate their time, as do musicians from the Royal Hawaiian Band.
Dykstra said he is proud of his "all-star performing, visual and language arts faculty," and that he’s fortunate to have the facilities to showcase them.
Colin Carr, 9, a Marine Corps Base Hawaii resident, had fun with clay and plaster of Paris.
"It’s pretty cool," he said of the festival.
Mom Megan Carr, 26, said she was pleasantly surprised her children "liked the art exhibit, the music."
Hawaiian-studies students showed visitors how to pound poi the traditional way, using tools they made, and visitors got to pound and taste the finished product.
Ethan Christy, 20, chiseled a large piece of wood.
The carving tells the story of Kuulakai, who "struck the eel’s jaw with the pohaku and changed the eel into stone," he said.
He credited kumu Jordan Souza for helping him "bring life" into the carving, and praised the festival in general.
"You’re not just reading about things; you’re actually doing it," he said.
