University of Hawaiʻi artists investigate the “Fear of the Unknown” at an exhibit at the Hawaiʻi State Art Museum opening July 7. Art pieces by 14 UH Mānoa and UH Hilo alumni and five pieces from faculty (three of whom are also alumni) from UH Mānoa, UH Hilo and Kapiʻolani Community College will be on display.
“Fear of the Unknown” explores enigmatic artworks from the Art in Public Places Collection of the Hawaiʻi State Foundation on Culture and the Arts, and some recently added artworks are on display to the public for the first time. The exhibit encourages viewers to “take a closer look and find details that help reveal narratives of exploration, change and discovery.”
“Hawaiʻi was the first state in the U.S. to establish a percent-for-art law, by legislatively accessing one percent of the construction cost of new state buildings to fund the State Foundation on Culture and the Arts (1965) and the Art in Public Places Program (1967),” said Gaye Chan, associate dean of the UH Mānoa College of Arts, Languages & Letters, and one of the UH artists in the exhibit. “It is hard to overstate how these initiatives support and encourage Hawaiʻi artists to stay the course in a city that has few other resources for artists.”
UH alumni artists
- Gaye Chan, UH Mānoa
- Melissa Chimera, UH Mānoa
- Calvin Collins, UH Mānoa
- Nate Ditzler, UH Mānoa
- Ka-Ning Fong, UH Mānoa
- Tiana Honda, UH Hilo
- Scott Katano, UH Mānoa
- Lauren Konecne, UH Mānoa
- Meleanna Meyer, UH Mānoa
- Hanae Uechi Mills, UH Mānoa
- Brandon Ng, UH Mānoa
- Abigail Romanchak, UH Mānoa
- Russell Sunabe, UH Mānoa
- Norman Tanaka, UH Mānoa
UH faculty artists
- Gaye Chan, professor, UH Mānoa Department of Art and Art History
- Charles Cohan, professor, UH Mānoa Department of Art and Art History
- Calvin Collins, professor, Kapiʻolani CC Art Department
- Ka-Ning Fong, lecturer, UH Mānoa Department of Art and Art History
- Michael Marshall, professor, UH Hilo Art Department
“Fear of the Unknown” will be available for viewing in the Hawaiʻi State Art Museum ʻEwa gallery (second floor). Learn more about the exhibit at the Hawaiʻi State Foundation on Culture and the Arts website.
