KAPA‘A — Alley Kat Art has moved out of the alley in old Kapa‘a town and onto the main street, into Ship Store Galleries. “In the alley, I was probably getting only 10 percent of the walk-through traffic of (the)
KAPA‘A — Alley Kat Art has moved out of the alley in old Kapa‘a town and onto the main street, into Ship Store Galleries.
“In the alley, I was probably getting only 10 percent of the walk-through traffic of (the) main street,” said Kathy “Kat” Cowan, Alley Kat co-owner. “There’s also an opportunity to work with Ship Store Galleries to create more of an art center.”
Customers can visit with Cowan on First Saturday in Old Kapa‘a Town from 5 to 9:30 p.m. Saturday when she celebrates her grand opening with electrosonic art by Tony LeHoven and PowerHound. There will also be fire spinning debuting in the new concert area (aka parking lot in the back).
The space Cowan is leasing from Ship Store is on the left side of the original gallery, which has been partitioned off and has its own door. The new space is about the same size as her 300-square-foot alley store, but she has moved the glass studio into her home, which will leave room at the store for more jewelry and art.
The glass studio was a unique part of Cowan’s retail store layout two and a half years ago when she opened up Alley Kat behind Island Hemp and Cotton. To make her glass beads wearbable, she started metal working, using silver and gold, and the combination of materials proved successful.
“Jewelry’s been the one that’s easiest to sell,” she said.
She plans to keep her jewelry bench and continue teaching jewelry classes while also showcasing the artwork of 15 local artists and jewelers in the store’s new home.
Cowan moved from Colorado to Kaua‘i 30 years ago. From the very beginning, she used recyclable materials such as waste glass to create stained glass and glass beads. One of her public artworks is a ceramic and concrete structure at Hanalei Elementary School.
She founded Kaua‘i Recycling for the Arts at the Kaua‘i Resource Center in Lihu‘e with a grant from the Kaua‘i Economic Development Board. There, she said she was “making platters and paperweights, soap dishes and functional houseware items in waste glass.”
In order to manufacture products using recycled materials such as glass, Cowan said, it takes a lot of electricity, which on Kaua‘i is one of the most expensive in the world.
“That was an issue when recycling glass,” Cowan said.
She operated Kaua‘i Recycling for the Arts for around four years until family matters took priority.
Alley Kat is a natural progression of her love of this art and the move is not changing her focus.
“I’m still making recycled glass beads and I do want to display other artists who use recycled materials,” she said.
One artist that she will be showcasing is Betty Jean Nativio, who paints on found objects.
Regarding recycling, “In a small way, I have a hand in it,” Cowan said.
Always exploring new ideas in the art world, Cowan is still the eternal alley cat, a cat that lives wildly in town.
