To the Nines Exhibition at the TCM's Cafe Gallery

To the Nines is a small look at the work of the students from this summer's first internship course at The Contemporary Museum. The work covers a variety of media and topics, from Reid Tabata's bronze abstraction to the solitude of Aaron Nicholson's “Exhale.” The work of Sonia Castro and Ualani Davis both carry a sensitivity and strength with their own unique personal visions. Gideon Gerlt's sculpture seems caught in ether and decay as corrosion sets in. Yumiko Glover's pop-inspired take on Japanese subculture plays on boundaries between reality and fantasy. Heather Matsuura's small figures quietly ask to be discovered, playing in the surrounding space. Brandon Ng utilizes the intensity of his eye, eloquently capturing his subject matter through a lens. Mapping environments in 4 dimensions Rex Vlcek uses capsules of the mundane and often overlooked: dust.

Come visit The Contemporary Café Gallery and indulge in fine food and Fine Art!

For more information please contact Deborah Nehmad, curator, at inquiry@deborahnehamd.com.

To the Nines
September 20 – October 31, 2011
The Contemporary Café at Honolulu Academy of Arts/Spalding House
2411 Makiki Heights Drive
Café Hours: Tuesday to Saturday: 11:00 am to 2:00 pm, Sunday: 12:00 noon to 2:30 pm
Phone number: 536-1322

Betsy Curtis solo show opening " The Visitors" at Hawaii Pacific University

Betsy Curtis, MFA student is showing solo this coming Sunday, September 25 at Hawaii Pacific University Art Gallery in Kaneohe. The opening reception will be from 4:00pm - 6:00pm.

"The Visitors" is a project where Curtis photographed willing visitors to the Battleship Missouri Memorial, Waimea Bay Beach Park and the Honolulu Academy of Arts. While people are dressed in street clothes, their body poses reference the formal Victorian portraiture conventions.
Hawaii Pacific University Art Gallery
45-045 Kamehameha Hwy
Kaneohe, Hawaii 96744

Show runs September 25- November 11
Gallery Hours: Mon-Sat, 8am-5pm

Graphic Design Workshop wins prestigious international award

The UH Design Workshop has won the First Place Award for Environmental/Sustainability at the 2011 international AIGA (Re)Design Awards. The winning design project is an identity system for the UH Mānoa School of Architecture and uses recycled paper, carbon-neutral printing, and a single press sheet to reduce paper waste.

According to the AIGA website, “The AIGA (Re)Design Awards is an international design competition and premier awards event that recognizes the importance and excellence of sustainable and socially responsible work.”

The UH Mānoa Graphic Design Program initiated the UH Design Workshop in Spring of 2008. The special studio, run by advanced Bachelor of Fine Art (BFA) graphic design students with faculty supervision, is committed to providing high-quality graphic design work for non-profit organizations in Hawai‘i.

Earlier projects that the Design Workshop have undertaken include yearly planners for UH Health Services, an annual report for the State of Hawai‘i Environmental Council, and the visual identities of UH Mānoa’s School of Architecture and Hawai‘i Nature Center.

Although the studio is only three years old, all completed projects have won local or national recognition. They include awards from the American Institute of Graphic Arts (Hawai‘i Chapter), the American Advertising Federation (Hawai‘i Chapter), and HOW Magazine, a national publication showcasing outstanding work in graphic design.

In 2010, the project designed for the UH Mānoa School of Architecture was selected as one of 28 semi-finalists, from over 600 international applicants, for the Adobe Design Achievement Awards, and will be showcased in the Print Magazine Regional Design Annual in November 2011. The annual national competition/publication recognizes outstanding graphic design.

Kait Rhoads at UHM for Fall 2011

UH Manoa welcomes Kait Rhoads, visiting glass artist from Seattle. Check out her work at the Art Building sculpture window, her resume site, and a description of her practice on the Fine Art Associate site!

Rhoads presented her works to art students and faculty recently. Her connection to the water started very early in her life, scuba diving and living for six years in a boat. Since then, she has found in glass the expression that connects her with water.

ARTvocating for UH Art

ARTvocate is a new group comprised of students whose mission is to represent the department at outreach events and they are off to a great start! They just had their first official event at the Academic and Student Services Fair, where over 100 High School counselors came to the University's Fair. The ARTvocates prepared a slide show, a hand painted sign and gave information about our great department. They even made a few contacts for future projects. It couldn't have gone smoother!

A big thanks goes to Eva Enriquez, Brady Evans, Heather Matsuura and Ryan Shultz!

Wendy Kawabata

Wendy Kawabata, Associate Professor in Drawing and Painting, is spending her sabbatical making and showing her artwork across the globe. This summer she was an artist in residence at the Nes in Skagastrond Iceland. Some of the work produced at the residency will be shown in exhibitions in the US. A solo exhibition, Acts, at Haas Gallery of Art in Bloomsburg University Pennsylvania. And a group show Paper Exhibition at Las Manos Gallery in Chicago.

Maya Portner awarded an Artist in Residency in India

MFA alum Maya Portner has been awarded an Artist in Residency at CHHAPP - Foundation for Printmaking Trust, in Gujarat, India. Portner will be in residence from November and December 2011.

ART students performing in Berlin

4 students, Eva Enriquez, Sheri Lyles, Jessica Orfe & Rex Vlcek participated in IPAH Summercamp and Platform Young Performance Artists 2011 in Berlin. The workshops took place at one of the last remaining buildings on former East side of Berlin. The old military warehouse with high ceilings, graffiti walls and its surroundings offered a variety of spaces for the practice of performance.

All students performed as part of the workshop but Jessica Orfe and Rex Vlcek's works were chosen as featured performances. Orfe's "Phasis" was approached from the her background on dance to address a dream. Vlcek collaborated with two other artists, Tabea Hornlein & Beate Linne, in "Don't Ask/Don't Tell" a social intervention that invited to discussion on what is performance art.