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‘Creativity takes courage.”
That quote from famed French painter Henri Matisse comes to Amanda Michele Dellinger’s mind often as she pursues her passion for painting, drawing and sculpture.
“It takes courage to be an artist, to be willing to create something and share it with others,” Dellinger said. “To be creative is to take risks, to put yourself wholly out there and ready yourself for failure, criticism, humiliation or fame. Every time artists choose to submit their ‘best work’ in response to a call for art like Art Maui, they are exhibiting courage.”
Art Maui launched in 1979 to spotlight the work of artists living in Maui County (Maui, Molokai and Lanai) and to spark public interest in acquiring art. Today, it ranks among Hawaii’s largest juried exhibitions of all genres — from painting, drawing, printmaking and photography to jewelry, sculpture, fiber arts and mixed media.
“The primary goal is to showcase the talent and diversity of Maui County’s rich community of artists,” said Dellinger, president of the eponymous nonprofit organization that was founded to organize the exhibition (see sidebar). “Many of them have not had the opportunity to show their work outside of their studios. Art Maui provides a platform for artists with and without gallery representation to do that side by side, to celebrate each other’s accomplishments and to potentially sell their work.”
Art Maui 2020 marks the event’s 42nd year. It is sponsored in part by the Maui Arts & Cultural Center in Kahului, where it has been mounted for the past 26 years (previous venues were the J. Walter Cameron Center in Wailuku and Hui No‘eau Visual Arts Center in Makawao).
In addition to the show itself, concurrent educational programs are planned to encourage dialogue and community interest and involvement.
“For example, we held a free panel discussion on Feb. 20 about the complexities of pricing and selling art, which was open to the public,” Dellinger said. “Every year dozens of volunteers provide support to ensure the success of the exhibition, and for the first time this year, votes will be taken for a ‘People’s Choice’ award.”
Artists at all stages of their careers are welcome to submit entries for Art Maui. They must turn 18 years old during the calendar year of the show and live in Maui County at least four months each year. Work must be original and have been completed within the previous two years without supervision (i.e., not created in a class or workshop with guidance from a teacher).
In addition, it must not have been previously shown in a juried exhibition, and the only reproductions allowed are for art that requires printing to be completed (for example, photos or computer-generated pieces).
Some 500 entries from an average of 300 artists have been submitted in recent years; of those, about 100 are usually chosen for the exhibition by a juror who does not reside in Maui County. Past jurors, primarily hailing from Oahu and Hawaii island, have been artists, art museum executives and art curators, critics and scholars.
This year’s juror is Ben Heywood, executive director and chief curator of the Bellevue Arts Museum in Washington state. A graduate of the Courtauld Institute of Art in London, one of the world’s most prestigious schools for art history, he is Art Maui’s first out-of-state juror in 19 years.
“A juried exhibition is very different from that of a traditional curated exhibition,” Heywood noted in a written statement. “As a museum curator, one might want to sort through varied artistic media and content to build a coherent theme for exhibition; in the juried exhibition context, the juror/curator must consider work across all media, genre and subject, looking at the best of each. A juried exhibition must demonstrate breadth.”
In short, this year’s Art Maui will be another fascinating survey of Maui County’s contribution to contemporary visual arts.
“Art is a portal,” Dellinger said. “It is a reminder, an exclamation, an exaltation, a nuance. It is political, revolutionary, therapeutic and controversial. It builds bridges and tears down walls. In any medium, whether traditional or conceptual, art elicits a spectrum of responses. It evokes thoughts and emotions from deep within both the maker and the viewer.”
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IF YOU GO: ART MAUI
>> Where: Schaefer International Gallery, Maui Arts & Cultural Center, 1 Cameron Way, Kahului, Maui
>> When: March 8 through April 3; daily, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
>> Cost: Free
>> Info: 808-242-2787, email info@artmaui.com or go to artmaui.com
>> Notes: Juror Ben Heywood will offer free walk-throughs of the exhibition on March 8 at 10:15 and 11:30 a.m. and 1 p.m. Each group will be limited to 25 people. Reservations are required; email info@artmaui.com.
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ABOUT ART MAUI
In the late 1970s, artists living on Maui had limited opportunities to show their work. The Lahaina Arts Society, the island’s biggest arts group at the time, occasionally hosted one-person shows in its gallery in the Old Lahaina Courthouse building. Artists were also featured from time to time at other galleries in town, in art shows at the public library and in the Maui County Fair’s annual exhibit, but there were no prestigious, juried events.
Back then, tourism was just becoming a focus for Maui’s business community. Miriam Fendler, a visionary woman with strong county government connections, wanted to put on a show to encourage visitor interest in art collecting. She contacted Janet Allan, then manager of the Lahaina Arts Society, who got artists Marian Freeman and Richard Nelson involved.
Art Maui was founded as a nonprofit organization in 1979 “to promote, encourage and recognize excellence in the visual arts.” The inaugural Art Maui exhibition was held the same year, and the committee headed by Fendler, Freeman and Nelson to put it on secured commitments from a select group of private collectors and the State Foundation on Culture and the Arts to buy pieces at the show. This “purchase pledge” continues to this day.
In 1985, a Publicity Image Award was implemented to help raise awareness about Art Maui, both the organization and the show it produces. The group’s 12-member board of directors, all volunteers, chooses one work in an exhibit to be reproduced as banners, posters, postcards and notecards to promote the following year’s event.
Most of the selected works are offered for sale, with 50% of the retail price going to Art Maui to help pay for student scholarships, educational programs and event-related costs. Prices have ranged from $250 to $50,000; the average is around $2,500.
— From Art Maui
Cheryl Chee Tsutsumi is a Honolulu-based freelance writer whose travel features for the Star-Advertiser have won several Society of American Travel Writers awards.
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