Hawaii State Foundation On Culture and The Arts FEBRUARY 2025 Newsletter

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Hawaii State Foundation On Culture and The Arts FEBRUARY 2025 Newsletter
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State Foundation on Culture and the Arts February 2025 Newsletter

2025 Hawaiʻi State Legislature and the SFCA
The State of Hawaiʻi 2025 legislative session officially opened January 15, 2025. Now is the time to get involved! Your testimony makes a difference: in 2023 and 2024, bills proposed to significantly cut SFCA funding were deferred thanks to support from hundreds of testimonies in opposition to the bills. Read more about the 2023 measure SB119 (Relating to the Works of Art Special Fund) and the 2024 measure HB 1807 (Relating to the Works of Art Special Fund) on the SFCA website.

Public testimony is an important part of the legislative process. The legislature has resources online, including workshops and tutorials through the Legislative Reference Bureau’s Public Access Room.

•   Hawaiʻi State Legislature: capitol.hawaii.gov.

◦   My Legislature: create a free account to get hearing notifications, submit testimony, and track measures: capitol.hawaii.gov/account.

◦   Public Access Room: get free tutorials, workshops, and other resources for learning how to engage with the process and communicate with legislators: LRB.hawaii.gov/par.

•   Hawaiʻi Arts Alliance: HawaiiArtsAlliance.org. The Alliance is a nonprofit arts advocacy organization. Subscribe to Hawaiʻi Arts Alliance email news for Action Alerts on bills and hearings, fact sheets, templates for testimony, and more.

•   State Foundation on Culture and the Arts (SFCA) news page: get updates on the SFCA website: sfca.hawaii.gov/news. Posts specific to the state legislature: sfca.hawaii.gov/category/news/hawaii-state-legislature-news.

Measures Introduced for 2025 Session
Nine measures have been introduced for the 2025 Hawaiʻi State Legislature session impacting the Hawaiʻi State Foundation on Culture and the Arts. Printable PDF: 2025 Measures Impacting the SFCA.

•   HB450 / SB582 Relating to DBEDT: Transfers the State Foundation on Culture and the Arts and the King Kamehameha Celebration Commission from the Department of Accounting and General Services to the Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism. Transfers the authority held by the Comptroller over the Works of Art Special Fund to the Director of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism. SFCA Executive Director Karen Ewald has submitted comments on HB450 with recommendations on facilitating a smooth transition.

•   HB1299 / SB1236 Relating to the Works of Art Special Fund: Specifies that the works of art special fund’s one per cent transfer requirement shall apply only to capital improvement appropriations for the original construction of state buildings. Amends the authority for funds from the works of art special fund to be used only for costs related to the acquisition of works of art. Appropriates funds.

•   HB1378 / SB1577 Relating to the SFCA: Establishes the Performing Arts Grants Program to support performing arts in the State. Clarifies the scope of the State Foundation on Culture and the Arts' responsibilities to include the coordination, planning, promotion, marketing, and execution of performing arts events. Allows the use of moneys from the Works of Art Special Fund for performing arts. Appropriates funds to provide grants under the Performing Arts Grants Program.

•   SB441 Relating to the Hawaii Symphony Orchestra: Designates the Hawaii Symphony Orchestra as the State of Hawaii Symphony Orchestra. Requires annual reports to the Legislature. Appropriates moneys.

•   SB1011 Hawaii Leadership Awards Program: Establishes the Hawaii Leadership Awards Program to honor individuals who have made considerable and outstanding contributions to Hawaii and serve as inspirations to others.

•   SB1581 Hawaii-Japan Pacific Peace Monument: Establishes a Hawaii-Japan Pacific Peace Monument to be developed by the State Foundation on Culture and appropriate stakeholders representing Hawaii and Japan. Appropriates funds.

Hawaiʻi Arts Alliance has sent out an Action Alert regarding HB1299 and SB1236 - Action Alert: Protect Arts Funding in Hawaiʻi (January 24, 2025). Subscribe to their email newsletter to get Action Alerts regarding the arts in Hawaiʻi during the legislative session, and to learn more about HAA plans to make arts advocacy a year-round activity.

Do you want to encourage your legislators to support the arts?
Ask for a public hearing of measures you support! After bills have been introduced, they need to be scheduled for hearings. Many bills never get a single public hearing, and “die in committee”. If you support a bill, you can ask the chair(s) of the committee(s) that the bills are in to schedule them for a hearing. The SFCA is in support of these bills*:

•   HB1378 / SB1577 Relating to the SFCA: Establishes the Performing Arts Grants Program to support performing arts in the State. Clarifies the scope of the State Foundation on Culture and the Arts' responsibilities to include the coordination, planning, promotion, marketing, and execution of performing arts events. Allows the use of moneys from the Works of Art Special Fund for performing arts. Appropriates funds to provide grants under the Performing Arts Grants Program.

◦   House Committee on Culture & Arts (CAA)
▪Chair: Rep. Jeanne Kapela
▪Vice Chair: Rep. Sam Satoru Kong

◦   House Committee on Finance (FIN)
▪Chair: Rep. Kyle Yamashita
▪Vice Chair: Rep. Jenna Takenouchi

•   SB1581 Hawaii-Japan Pacific Peace Monument: Establishes a Hawaii-Japan Pacific Peace Monument to be developed by the State Foundation on Culture and appropriate stakeholders representing Hawaii and Japan. Appropriates funds.

◦   Senate Committee on Transportation and Culture and the Arts (TCA)
▪Chair: Senator Chris Lee
▪Vice Chair: Senator Lorraine R. Inouye

◦   Senate Committee on Ways and Means (WAM)
▪Chair: Senator Donavan Dela Cruz
▪Vice Chair: Senator Sharon Y. Moriwaki

Learn more about how to communicate with legislators from the Public Access Room, a free, non-partisan resource at the State Capitol: lrb.hawaii.gov/par/use-your-voice-at-the-legislature.

Printable version: 02-03-2025 support the arts (PDF).

*Please note that support/oppose/comment positions have not yet been determined by SFCA leadership on all measures introduced for this session. Updates will be provided by the SFCA and the Hawaiʻi Arts Alliance.

Arts advocacy: Civic Engagement in the Arts series
Hawaiʻi Arts Alliance will be hosting weekly advocacy sessions on Zoom, Thursdays February 6, 13, and 20, 12:00 - 1:00 p.m. Free with registration: Civic Engagement in the Arts.

SFCA Arts Education Programs

Photo: Konawaena High School students printing bandanas with ʻohe kāpala they designed themselves, after learning about the cultural practice of kuku kapa with teaching artist Ellen Crocker.

Artists in the Schools spotlight: Konawaena High School students collaborate. “…with the help of others, we make something which we could not make by ourselves”
In a letter to state lawmakers, then-Konawaena High School Vice Principal Momilani Kaehuaea wrote “Given our location and access, many South Kona students do not have extended learning and experiential opportunities, whether it is to attend camps, classes, or have consistent, meaningful interactions with our incredible community artists. This grant continues to afford our students those extended opportunities. In addition to providing instruction on fine arts standards, it also provides/provided classroom teachers with a hands-on mentor to better teach the arts in their curriculum and definitely supports student emotional well-being.” (Kaehuaea is currently Poʻokumu at Ke Kula ʻO ʻEhunuikaimalino School).

“The final sumi-e project was a collaborative mural to help students learn to remember that we need each other and with the help of others, we make something which we could not make by ourselves. […] The collaborative murals really emphasized that when they work together well, they are able to accomplish so much more and they can be proud of what they did.” – Leigh Nakamura, Konawaena High School, classroom teacher (from the school year 2024 final report to the SFCA).

Artists in the Schools provides high quality arts education to State of Hawaiʻi Department of Education public and charter schools, grades pre-K through 12. All Hawaiʻi public schools are eligible to apply to the program. Learn more about Artists on the Schools on the SFCA website: sfca.hawaii.gov/aits.

Artists in the Schools applications open through March 30

Photo: Kahakai Elementary School students holding up artworks done during a 2024 AITS residency.
School applications for Artists in the Schools school years 2025-2026 and 2025-2027 are now open on HawaiiGoSmart.org. The deadline to apply is March 30, 2025.

SFCA Arts Education Coordinator Danica “Nikki” Rosengren will be hosting Artists in the Schools Office Hours via Zoom:

• February 11, 10:00 a.m.

• March 17, 2:00 p.m.
Contact Nikki at Danica.Rosengren@hawaii.gov for a calendar invite and Zoom link to any of the sessions.

Hawaiʻi State Foundation on Culture and the Arts’ (SFCA) Artists in the Schools (AITS) arts residency grants provide engaging, creative, and fun learning experiences based on the Fine Arts standards for all grade levels, through residencies with qualified, trained teaching artists from the Artistic Teaching Partners (ATP) Roster. Many of these teaching artists integrate their art form with other core curriculum areas, such as language arts, math, social studies, and science, meeting both Fine Arts and other core standards.

Learn more about the program on the SFCA website: SFCA.Hawaii.gov/aits.

Please help us get the word out! The SFCA would like to expand participation, especially on the Neighbor Islands and rural areas. This flyer can be downloaded and printed: Artists in the Schools grant flyer (PDF).

Poetry Out Loud State Finals
The 2025 Poetry Out Loud Hawaiʻi Regional Competition is scheduled for Sunday, February 23, at Tenney Theatre in Honolulu.

Poetry Out Loud

2025 Scholastics Exhibit
The 2025 Hawaiʻi Regional Scholastic Art Awards exhibit will be at Capitol Modern (the Hawaiʻi State Art Museum) March 1 - April 1, 2025. Experience Hawaiʻi through the artwork of Hawaiʻi teens!

Capitol Modern exhibitions

Capitol Modern

Volunteer opportunity
Capitol Modern is seeking volunteers for the 2025 Hawaiʻi Regional Scholastic Art Awards exhibit opening reception and awards ceremony on Saturday, March 1, 2025. Volunteers must be 18 years of age or older. For more information and to apply, please visit the SFCA news page: sfca.hawaii.gov/volunteer-at-capitol-modern-march-2025.

Volunteer Information

February events at Capitol Modern

•   First Friday, February 7, 5:00 - 9:00 p.m.

•   Friday Night Tempo, February 21, 5:00 – 9:00 p.m.

•   Museum calendar: CapitolModern.org/events
Museum galleries are temporarily closed until February 15 while new exhibits are being installed. Capitol Modern is one of the exhibit sites for Hawaiʻi Triennial 2025. Learn more on the Hawaiʻi Contemporary website: HawaiiContemporary.org.

Are you subscribed to the Capitol Modern email newsletter? Subscribe or update your information: Capitol Modern email newsletter signup.

CapitolModern.org

Calls for Artists

A list of federal, state, and other arts and culture calls for artists. Questions regarding a particular opportunity should be directed to the organization listed with the opportunity. Inclusion here should not be interpreted as an endorsement.

•   Creative Industries Hawaiʻi call for film project submissions. The State of Hawaiʻi is looking to help fund selected film projects. Applications are due by March 21, 2025. Learn more on the Creative Industries Hawaiʻi website: cid.hawaii.gov/main/calling-for-film-project-submissions.

•   Hawaiʻi International Film Festival (HIFF) Fall Festival submissions open through April 25, 2025. Submit at FilmFreeway.com/HIFF.

•   Honolulu Printmakers Annual Juried Exhibition call for artists submissions open February 9 – 23, 2025. Learn more on the Honolulu Printmakers website: HonoluluPrintmakers.org/annual-exhibition.

•   2025 Hawaiʻi Wildlife Conservation & Game Bird Stamp Art Contest submissions open until April 5, 2025. For entry requirements, please visit the hunting announcements page on the State of Hawaiʻi Department of Land and Natural Resources website: DLNR.Hawaii.gov/recreation/hunting/hunting-announcements.

Student Art Competitions

•   Cooper Hewitt 2025 National High School Design Competition challenging students to use design to help everyone feel at home in their communities. Open to high school students ages 13 – 19 in the United States. Entry period January 6 – February 10, 2025. For more information, please visit the Cooper Hewitt website: CooperHewitt.org/design-competition-design-challenge.

•   Science Without Borders 2025 International Student Art Contest, open to primary and secondary school students 11 – 19 years old. Entries must be received by March 3, 2025. For more information and application instructions, please go to the Living Oceans Foundation website: LivingOceansFoundation.org/education/science-without-borders-challenge.

•   ʻŌlelo Community Media Youth Xchange Statewide Student Video Competition categories for Hawaiʻi students K-12, K-8, high school and college. Submissions due by March 25, 2024. Learn more on the ʻŌlelo Community Media website: olelo.org/yxc2025/contest.

Free Art Exhibits

Image: “Scope”, Yuji Hamada. On view in the “Focus” photography exhibit at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa.

Questions regarding a particular program or event should be directed to the organization listed with the opportunity. Inclusion here should not be interpreted as an endorsement.

•   Downtown Art Center (DAC) “Contemporary Photography in Hawaiʻi 2025” February 6-21, 2025. “Creative Community Center Artist Co-op” through March 3, 2025. “Ed Greevy: Philosopher, Traveler, Photographer” February 6-28, 2025. For more information, please visit the DAC website: downtownarthi.org.

•   Gallery ʻIolani (Windward Community College), “Hoʻokāhi Ka ʻIlau Like Ana” featuring 14-foot Hoe Uli (steering paddles) crafted by 70 Moananuiākea carvers as symbols of collective self-determination during the 13th Festival of Pacific Arts and Culture (FestPAC) in Honolulu. Through March 7, 2024. Free admission. For more information, please visit the Gallery ʻIolani website: gallery.windward.hawaii.edu/hookahi-ka-ilau-like-ana.

•   Hui Noʻeau Visual Arts Center (Maui), “2025 Hui Noʻeau Annual Juried Exhibition”, January 17 – February 21, 2025. Free admission. For more information, please go to the Hui Noʻeau website: HuiNoeau.com/exhibitions

•   John Young Museum of Art (University of Hawaiʻi at Manoa) “Heroes, Poets, Gods, and Monsters: From Gekkō’s Brush” exhibit, January 19 – May 4, 2025. Free admission. For more information, please visit the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa Dept. of Art and Art History website: hawaii.edu/art/exhibitions-events-museum.

•   University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa Art Building, The Art Gallery, “Focus” photography exhibit of seven contemporary Japanese artists. Free admission. January 14 – February 16, 2025. Exhibition walkthrough Sunday February 16, 1:00 p.m. For more information, please visit the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa Dept. of Art and Art History website: hawaii.edu/art/focus-photography.

Find exhibits and events on the Hawaiʻi Tourism Authority’s Go Hawaiʻi calendar
The Go Hawaiʻi event calendars provide information about cultural performances, stage shows, musical events, and art exhibits. The Hawaiʻi Tourism Authority reviews each event submission and requires that the events is open to the public and “of interest to visitors”.

•   Hawaiʻi Island: gohawaii.com/islands/hawaii-big-island/events

•   Kauaʻi: gohawaii.com/islands/kauai/events

•   Lanaʻi: gohawaii.com/islands/lanai/events

•   Maui: gohawaii.com/islands/maui/events

•   Molokaʻi: gohawaii.com/islands/molokai/events

•   Oʻahu: gohawaii.com/islands/oahu/events
Listing an event is free! Interested event hosts and organizations can learn more on the GoHawaii website: gohawaii.com/events/submit.

SFCA Board of Commissioners

SFCA Board meeting held on Maui
The SFCA Board of Commissioners held a general meeting on Maui on December 19 at the Maui Arts and Cultural Center. Agenda items included an Executive Director’s report, strategic plan update, discussion of 2025 SFCA Legislative priorities, and a presentation on projects funded by the SFCA. Maui Arts and Cultural Center’s Curriculum Manager Kaliko Kaauamo and Education Director Moira Pirsch gave a presentation on their arts and healing work following the Lahaina fires in 2023. Funding from the Department of Health was channeled by the SFCA into community programming, managed by the Maui Arts and Cultural Center.

•   Recent purchases and gifts are listed on the SFCA website: sfca.hawaii.gov/art-in-public-places-program/#recent-adds.

•   Approved exhibit visits are also posted to the SFCA website: sfca.hawaii.gov/art-in-public-places-program/#aasc-visits.

Upcoming SFCA Board of Commissioners Meetings

• Tuesday, February 11, 2025: Art in Public Places Committee Meeting

• Wednesday, March 12, 2025: General Meeting
Decisions about grants, artwork purchases, and more are made by the State Foundation on Culture and the Arts (SFCA) Board of Commissioners. Meetings are currently being held virtually on Zoom, and the public is invited to attend. Appointed by the state governor, the Board of Commissioners oversees the Executive Director, provides input, and approves spending. Commissioners are volunteers and do not receive compensation for their duties.

Individuals may submit written testimony on posted agenda items in advance of the meeting via email to Rhiannon.MK.Keene@hawaii.gov or by mail addressed to the State Foundation on Culture and the Arts, 250 South Hotel Street, 2nd Floor, Honolulu, HI 96813. Individuals interested in signing up to provide oral testimony on posted agenda items at the meeting may submit their name, email, and phone number to HawaiiSFCA@hawaii.gov. Individuals may provide oral testimony at the meeting via the above-listed video conferencing link or by calling the above listed telephone number. Testimony presented during the meeting will be limited to three minutes each.
Agenda items for General Meetings may include approval of artwork acquisition recommendations and Acquisition Award Selection Committee (AASC) art exhibit visit recommendations.

Agendas and minutes are also posted on the SFCA Board of Commissioners page.

Graphic: artwork detail from “the location of the very, absolute, tippety top of the mountain is not yet known” mixed media by Kainoa Gruspe, 2021. SFCA Art in Public Places Collection. Purchased from the Aupuni Space “The Location of Up and Down” 2024 exhibition. Currently on display at the Hawaiʻi State Capitol in the office of Rep. Terez Amato.

SFCA Office
The SFCA office is open by appointment. SFCA is operating in a hybrid model of teleworking where all staff are available by email or telephone. If you aren’t sure who to contact, email HawaiiSFCA@hawaii.gov or call (808) 586-0300 and leave a voice message, including your name and telephone number.

Copyright (C) 2025 Hawaii State Foundation on Culture and the Arts. All rights reserved.
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The mission of the Hawai‘i State Foundation on Culture and the Arts is to promote, perpetuate, preserve and encourage culture and the arts, history and the humanities as central to the quality of life of the people of Hawai‘i. HSFCA funding is provided by the State of Hawai‘i and the National Endowment for the Arts.

Courtesy of: Hawaii State Art Museum

Hawaii State Art Museum

he Hawai'i State Art Museum is dedicated to presenting the largest and finest collection of works by Hawai'i artists that celebrate the diverse artistic and cultural legacy of Hawai'i.

OUR MISSION
To promote, perpetuate, preserve and encourage culture and the arts, history and the humanities as central to the quality of life of the people of Hawai`i. HSFCA funding is provided by the State of Hawai`i and the National Endowment for the Arts. The HSFCA is administratively attached to the Department of Accounting and General Services.

HOURS:
The musuem is open from Tuesday to Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Closed State and Federal Holdays. Always free admission. For pre-recorded information call 586-0900.

The Hawai'i State Art Museum is open Tuesday to Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission is free. For pre-recorded summary information on the museum, call (808) 586-0900. For current museum program information, call the HSFCA Art in Public Places Program at (808) 586-0305. To arrange an educational tour of the museum, call (808) 586-9958.

For information on the HSFCA; the Hawai'i State Art Museum; HSFCA grants, programs, and services; Hawai'i arts and culture events; and USA and worldwide arts opportunities, visit the HSFCA website, www.hawaii.gov/sfca.

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Hawaii State Foundation On Culture and The Arts FEBRUARY 2025 Newsletter

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