KAPA‘A — “They move,” said artist Theresa Casagram, Friday morning as she placed her sterling silver pieces out for jurying at the Kapa‘a Jodo Mission. “Everything moves.”
Shannon Hiramoto, the Kaua‘i chair for the Hawai‘i Craftsmen State Exhibit, said there were a lot of pieces submitted for jurying, Friday, the designated Entry Day for Kaua‘i.
Hiramoto said there were 40 total pieces submitted by Kaua‘i artisans, including Casagram, and some first-time crafts people.
“This is a lot more than what was submitted, last year,” Hiramoto said. “The juror for the state exhibit, Neida Bangerter of the Schaefer International Gallery, just landed at the airport. We should have some winners from the state exhibit. The juror is taking everything back to O‘ahu, and there won’t be any announcements until the entries from the other islands are brought in.”
This year’s Hawai‘i Craftsmen Exhibit opens at The Downtown Art Center on O‘ahu from Sept. 17 through Oct. 15. The exhibit then travels to the Schaefer International Gallery in partnership with the Maui Arts &Cultural Center from Nov. 8 through Dec. 23.
According to the Exhibit’s website, the statewide exhibit has been held annually since 1967 and features “the finest traditional and contemporary craft from across the state of Hawai‘i.”
During last year’s exhibit, three Kaua‘i artists finished by earning various awards for their work.
Abigail Boroughs earned The Garden Island Arts Council Annual Artist Award for her work, “Joy, Sorrow, and Rainbows, Reclaimed wood, paper, and linen thread…”
Marta Whitlock’s “Diaspora. How I and this piece of copper made it here,” a piece utilizing recycled copper and plywood earned the Merit Award in Metal Arts, and Natasha Young earned a Merit Award in Fiber Arts for her “Rooster Feather Cape, Feathers.”
w Info: hawaiicraftsmen.org.