Hawaii State Art Museum

[tiptoetulip]

I'm curious how many know about or have visited the Hawaii State Art Museum (HiSAM)...

[1stwahine]

Re: Hawaii State Art Museum

I'm curious how many know about or have visited the Hawaii State Art Museum (HiSAM)...

Bill Murray & Scarlett Johanssen?

[scrivener]

Re: Hawaii State Art Museum

I used part of my summer vacation getting to know the State Art Museum, and I really, really liked it. There was a good mix of stuff to suit a wide range of tastes. My one complaint is that for such a huge building, it's got a pretty small exhibit space. I'm hoping the collection will expand and so will the dedicated exhibit space.

Admission is free, so there's no excuse for not checking it out!

[Menehune Man]

Re: Hawaii State Art Museum

Looks cool. Going to have to check it out soon. Here's a link that has current and upcoming events along with the address.

[tiptoetulip]

Re: Hawaii State Art Museum

I used part of my summer vacation getting to know the State Art Museum, and I really, really liked it. There was a good mix of stuff to suit a wide range of tastes. My one complaint is that for such a huge building, it's got a pretty small exhibit space. I'm hoping the collection will expand and so will the dedicated exhibit space.

Admission is free, so there's no excuse for not checking it out!

The deal is that the SFCA, State Foundation on Culture and the Arts, only has two floors of that whole building (which people know as the former Hemmeter bldg.). The rest are other state offices. The exhibit space will remain what it is, and the exhibits will change periodically. It is at least nice that they finally have a dedicated space, though small compared to other museums, which can showcase artwork acquired through the Art in Public Places program. Before this, artwork could be found in state buildings (the Capitol, schools, state offices, etc.), but unless you visited those offices, it was kind of difficult to see any of it.

Location is not bad, next to the Capitol, and you can make a day of downtown sightseeing. Like you said, it's free, so what more can you ask for? Oh, a cafe is in the works, so it will be nice to get a good cuppa in a nice setting.

[tiptoetulip]

Re: Hawaii State Art Museum

Oh, meant to say that they are always looking for dedicated volunteers who would like to be museum docents.

[adrian]

Re: Hawaii State Art Museum

Not me, but I did visit the Academy of Arts on a class trip (and it was free, so it was even better )

[Glen Miyashiro]

Re: Hawaii State Art Museum

Problem is, the only times when it's open are when I'm working. And when I get a day off during the regular work week, visiting a museum usually isn't the first thing I think to do.

[pzarquon]

Re: Hawaii State Art Museum

I like the museum a lot. Only been there a few of times, but that included the grand opening in November 2002. I was glad such a place was created, but then, as now, I felt it wasn't getting the exposure it deserved.

I wish the museum would put much of its holdings online. Or at least that there was more to its website than a sub-page of the Flash-infested RevaComm SFCA site. A lot of the local pieces they have are one of a kind, and when they're not on display, they're in warehouses somewhere, rotting away...

[AbsolutChaos]

Re: Hawaii State Art Museum

Been there several times. Enjoy going to their special receptions, where the art is enhanced by pupus/wine/live entertainment in the evenings.

As with many other places on the island, though, I don't go as often as I'd like.

[mel]

Re: Hawaii State Art Museum

Should the State of Hawaii be in the art business? I remember the Cayetano administration putting in a last minute appropriation near the last day of the 2000 (or was it 2001?) session to acquire that building for like $22 million. Because this was a last minute add, there was no opportunity for a public hearing or public testimony on this item.

Some of the art that the State Foundation on Culture and the Arts have in their collection are terrible. Why should the state have to subsidize artists to create these things? We have a lot of private art galleries all over town (just go to Chinatown and you'll see many). If people like the art they buy and if they want to see em, I'm sure most galleries don't mind if you just go to their places to browse. Why compete with the private sector?

Funding poured into the arts could probably be better used for education or at the least art education where perhaps the emphasis is more on sharing the artwork in an education setting rather than being a general art museum for the public.

Isn't the Honolulu Academy of Arts funded in part by the State? Or are they completely private now?

What about the Contemporary Museum up in Manoa? Is that totally private?

These places have been around Hawaii for quite a long time, long before the State Art Museum was funded and opened. I think they did and probably still do an adequate job of supporting the arts, as well as the other private places.

OK, now I'll just sit here and wait for the boulders to come hurling toward my opinion.

[helen]

Re: Hawaii State Art Museum

Should the State of Hawaii be in the art business?

On the consumer side it is. I can't remember which law it is and it might be hearsy stuff but isn't there a rule that states that a small percentage of a state building's cost goes into art work?

But to be on topic for this thread is no I didn't hear about the Hawaii State Art Museum and I don't feel too bad about knowing about it since (a) it's kind of recent and (b) while I having nothing against museums, I rarely visit them.

[scrivener]

Re: Hawaii State Art Museum

No boulders from me, Mel, but I will tell you that while I am for the most part economically conservative when it comes to government, I am convinced that the state (and I mean local and national governments) need to invest in the arts, and I don't mean "invest" for finanacial gain.

The arts do more than give us something pretty to look at. They document who we are and what we are, and where we've been. An artist's task is to record the truth of a moment in a manner that resonates without the use of words, and it is in the state's best interest to encourage it, even if sometimes the results are less than aesthetically pleasing.

No, the state should not be in competition with private galleries. What it should be doing is pursuing and encouraging artists who capture the essence of the lives we live. I suppose the Mona Lisa or Michaelangelo's David could be privately owned, but then they might be privately displayed, and that would be terrible, because these are works of art that don't just give Italy some of its identity, but in many ways the entire Western hemisphere. Private galleries are important and necessary, but there's got to be some funding for publicly owned art, and it needs to be put on exhibit.