ArtSpree 2009  - July 11

ArtSpree is a fantastic showcase of visual and performing arts and a great way for families to spend a day together.

Volunteers committed to help out include the Iolani and Punahou School Key Clubs, the Serteens Club of Hawaii, and the international women's fraternity Hawaii Chapter of Alpha Gamma Delta. Punahou School once again provided free parking for all visitors to ArtSpree and TCM offered free continuous bus shuttle service to and from the museum all day long. (Parking onsite at the Museum was restricted to only those with special handicaps).

ArtSpree was born in 1995, after the non-profit support group, Friends of the Contemporary Museum, hosted an open house to celebrate the Museum's 5th birthday. The program enjoyed such a robust attendance and was so well received by the community, the Friends decided to repeat it annually. Now in its 16th year, ArtSpree has become one of the summer's most popular art events. (TCM celebrated its 20th anniversary in October 2008.)

Activities that every age group can enjoy will take place throughout the day including make-and-take art activities, storytelling, live entertainment such as music, dance and performance art, and art demonstrations. TCM's Café was open and other food and beverage items were available for purchase. The Museum's peaceful and picturesque grounds with sprawling lawns and wide-open spaces, make for a spacious location to hold the popular event.

Past performers have included Giinko Marischino, aerialist troupe Samadhi Hawaii, stilt-walking clown Loco Moco, and the Hawaii Youth Speaks Poetry Team. Mermaids Hawaii performed synchronized swimming in the pool and cookie entrepreneur Wally Amos has also dropped by to tell a story or two. Local artists also share their special techniques and inspiration through ongoing demonstrations throughout the day. Click HERE for a brochure that describes the events for this year.

ArtSpree sponsors included: Tori Keegan and Bill Lum and other contributors include Electric Pencil and:
    

TCM's galleries were also open, including David Hockney's The Child and the Enchantment, as well as the opening day for the special exhibition, Yoshihiro Suda. Japanese artist Yoshihiro Suda (born 1969) is internationally known for his installations of delicate carved and painted wooden plant life.

Suda's sculptures of indigenous Japanese plants and flowers, including camellias, magnolias, and roses, as well as common weeds, are meticulously created with surprising realism and in true-to-life scale that at times borders on the miniscule. The artist carves these fragile pieces from magnolia wood before hand-painting them with traditional Japanese pigments to produce exact replicas of these natural flowers.

This exhibition will be Suda's second solo museum show in the United States. For his 2009 exhibition at The Contemporary Museum, the artist will be making several new works based on tropical flowers that are found in Hawaii. This exhibition is sponsored in part by The Hara Fund, Julia Ing, and the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts. In-kind support was provided by the Waikiki Parc Hotel and Japan Airlines.

Morning Glory
2008
painted on wood
Installation view at Galeria Fortes Vilaça, Sao Paulo

For more information about The Contemporary Museum, ArtSpree 2009, or the Suda exhibition: (808) 526-0232; Reception Desk: (808) 526-1322.