Boz Schurr Artist in Residence at HAA

MFA student Boz Schurr is the newest Orvis Artist in Residence at the Honolulu Academy of Arts. Boz started her residency on November 7th and it runs until December 20th. A large scale painting is created every week by Boz and visitors to the Academy.
Here's a fragment of Schurr's project proposal:
" While I am creating a body of work at the Academy I will be recording the process to create a time lapse film.... The film will be a moving "book" in six chapters, one for each week spent in residence, exploring my interactions with visitors, fellow artists, professors, and employers and what I feel I have discovered as a student and artist living in Hawaii.
Also as I am working, I will encourage visitors to my studio to either submit ideas to my story line, watch the film as it has progressed thus far and/or add to the current painting in progress." To read Boz's complete project proposal click here.
So far Boz and HAA visitors have created 3 large scale paintings and there are three chapters of the moving book available to view on her Youtube Channel. You can paint with Boz at HAA Saturday from 1- 4 pm and Sunday from 1 - 4:30 pm.

Student and Alumni work featured at Louis Pohl Gallery

Deck Yer Walls, a group exhibition at Louis Pohl Gallery opened to the public November 24th and will be on display until January 8, 2010.
Among the featured artists are current MFA students Allison Uttley, Roxanne Chasle, and alumni Matthew Kawika Ortiz, Aaron Padilla, and Maika'i Tubbs. Running concurrently with Deck Yer Walls is Fun Fantasy Function featuring the ceramic artwork of alumni Daven Hee and Cory Lum.
Deck Yer Walls and Fun Fantasy Function's opening reception is Thursday December 3 from 5:30 - 9 pm. There will also be a reception December 4th [ First Friday] 5:30- 9 pm. Louis Pohl Gallery is located at 1111 Nuuanu Ave, gallery hours are Tues - Fri 11 am to 5 pm or by appointment.

BFA & MFA students awarded John Young Scholarships

MFA students Lauren Adelman, Brian Chih-Chiang Lo, James Reed, Boz Schurr, and Allison Uttley were awarded 5 out of the 8 graduate John Young Scholarships in the Arts. BFA students Sarah Adams and Allison Hanabusa were awarded 2 of the 4 undergraduate John Young Scholarships in the Arts.
The purpose of the John Young Scholarship in the Arts is to provide assistance to students enrolled in the College of Arts and Sciences and pursuing a degree in any field related to the arts. These awards are made possible by the John Young Foundation to honor the late renowned artist, John Young, and to fulfill his wish to support students of the arts at the University of Hawaii at Manoa.

Gordon Sasaki

BFA and MFA Alumni Gordon Sasaki advocates inclusion through the arts and has spent the last 20 years working with special needs populations. Since 1982 when his spine was injured in an automobile accident he has used a manual wheelchair. This incident and subsequent life experience underscores the importance of creativity in individual and broader societal contexts. Gordon understands the role art plays in the development of observational, analytical and language skills, as well as self esteem and confidence building. "The arts are absolutely essential and fundamental to children with different learning abilities" In both his personal work and teaching he strives to include broader voices and audiences. " My work in Hawai'i and now in New York has sought to make visible that which is unseen". Sasaki is currently a Teaching Artist Educator at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.
Gordon's work has been exhibited internationally in Belgium, Germany, Japan, Spain, and throughout the United States. Gordon has also been a recipient of awards and grants from the Pollock Krasner Foundation, The Puffin Foundation, The New York Foundation for the Arts, and the Hawai'i State Foundation on Culture and Arts, PX3 de la Photographia in Paris, and the Joan Mitchell Foundation in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Gordon Sasaki's artwork is currently on display at the UH Manoa Art Gallery as a part of the Degrees of Distinction: Alumni Invitational Exhibition.

Jason Minami

BFA Alumni Jason Minami has work currently exhibited in the Degrees Of Distinction: Alumni Invitational Exhibition.
Jason states: " Whether it is casting, blowing, welding, forging or fusing my artwork revolves around the process of transforming a solid material into a liquid state and yet back into a solid. When creating my work I hope to retain a sense of this energy movement, through form, line, and light."
While attending UH Jason discovered his passion for working with glass and his commitment to share his knowledge. Post BFA he studied at the Pilchuck Glass School in Washington and the Corning Museum of Glass studio in New York. In 2006 he received his MFA from Alfred University in New York. Jason is currently the studio manager and instructor at GlassRoots a non profit organization in Newark NJ.
GlassRoots was founded in January 2001 with the belief that communities can be transformed and elevated through the arts. GlassRoots provides the youth of Newark, NJ with a unique opportunity to develop their minds and confidence through the creation of glass art.
"I am very thankful for those who have taken time and energy to help me develop my passion and I hope to pass it on to others." says Jason Minami.

Malcolm Wong

In 2006 [MFA Alum] Malcolm Wong's screen play Dog Eaters won 3 Awards at the Screenwriters Expo 5 in L.A. One of the awards was to have The Dabel Brothers adapt Malcolm's screenplay into a comic book and graphic novel mini series.Issue 1 was released in the fall of 2008, and since then Issues 2 and 3 [out of 6] have followed .The storyline is:

" Mankind failed in its first attempt to transcend the Petroleum Age. The Die Off killed nine out of ten people worldwide. One hundred and seventy five years later, civilization consists of scattered nomadic tribes, isolated casino-cities, and roving bands of predatory bandits.This is the world of the Black Dog Clan."

New to the Dog Eaters Website is a music-animatic version of Issue #1 and a trailer narrated by Malcolm Wong. Dog Eaters is available in your friendly neighborhood comic book store and online! You can also find information about Dog Eaters on Myspace.

Maya Portner Opening at Contemporary Museum Cafe

“+/- Selected Works with Paper,” by Maya Lea Portner (MFA alum)
The exhibition of two-dimensional work includes drawings, paper-cuts, and sewn constructions. Through the use of patterns, Portner investigates the tension between the superficiality of decoration and the meanings of underlying motifs.
Opening Reception November 21, 1:30-3:30pm

November 17 to December 13, 2009
2411 Makiki Heights Drive in Honolulu
gallery hours: Tuesday – Sunday from 11:30 am – 2:30 pm.