Kahilu Theatre Announces Juried Art Exhibit Winners

“a Climate of Change” juried art exhibit is on display at Kahilu Theatre’s Kohala gallery through June 2, 2017. Photo courtesy of Kahilu Theatre.

The winners of the juried art exhibit, a Climate of Change, featured at Kahilu Theatre’s Kohala Gallery were announced at the opening reception on Friday, April 7.

Michael Marshall, chair of the Art Department at the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo, selected the exhibit’s 28 works created by 19 Hawaiʻi-based artists from roughly 100 submissions. Artists were asked to enter works that addressed the title of the exhibit and dealt with environmental, political and social change issues.

1st Place

Merchant and Richards: You Can Park Here, She’s Not a Meter Maid

Artists: Yvonne Yarber Carter and Keoki Apokolani Carter

Medium: Photography, video and original score

This framed photograph accompanied by audio and digital images is an artistic interpretation of experiences in downtown Honolulu, a microcosm of change through the last two centuries in Hawaiʻi. The piece was inspired by recent visits to O‘ahu by Keoki and Yvonne which prompted feelings of loss, incongruity, compassion, love, rich memories and worry. Using imagery in the piece, and original sounds and music, the artists acknowledge a collective responsibility and the hope that our hearts are not lost.

2nd Place

still water; reflect

Artist: Mary Babcock

Medium: Reclaimed fishing nets and ropes

“still water; reflect” is part of a larger body of work created from discarded nets and lines reclaimed from the Pacific ocean and shorelines. The piece addresses human impacts to the world’s ecosystems and the interdependent nature of human consciousness and the material world. Inspired by the teachings of Thich Nhat Hanh, this work speaks of the necessity of settling the chaotic mind to engage in the external world without harm. It also reflects on lessons from water–agitation results in turbulence, stillness brings clarity–and where we stand in the continuum.

3rd Place

High Tide

Artist: Tamara Moan

Medium: Watercolor on paper

High Tide is inspired by both the worldwide voyage of the Hōkūleʻa as well as the continuing concern for the health of the ocean.

In addition to the juried exhibit winners, two pieces from the show – still water; reflect by Mary Babcock and Merchant and Richards: You Can Park Here, She’s Not a Meter Maid by Yvonne Yarber Carter and Keoki Apokolani Carter – have been recommended by the Hawaiʻi State Foundation on Culture and the Arts to be added to the Arts in Public Places Collection.

“Thanks to the guidance of Exhibits Coordinator Margo Ray and our juror, Michael Marshall, the Kahilu Theatre Gallery has met State Foundation on Culture and the Arts criteria for a visit by an Art Advisory Selection Committee,” said Sherman Warner, a member of the Board of Directors of Kahilu Theatre. “Two works from the show have been recommended for purchase to be included in the State’s collection of relocatable art, a collection that is on display in state offices, airports, courthouses, schools and libraries (including the Waimea Library).”

“A Climate of Change was open to entries by artists from across the state, and it is exciting that the juror awarded first prize to local artists and Kahilu Theatre regulars, Keoki Apokolani Carter and Yvonne Yarber Carter,” Warner said.

The Kahilu Galleries are free and open to the public, Monday through Friday, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., and during all performances. A Climate of Change will be on display through June 2.

For more information, visit www.kahilutheatre.org/exhibits, or call (808) 885-6868.