Hawaii - Jeff Campbell [70]
HONOLULU ACADEMY OF ARTS
This exceptional museum (Map; 532-8700; www.honoluluacademy.org; 900 S Beretania St; adult/senior & student $10/5, child under 13 free, all free 1st Wed & 3rd Sun of each month; 10am-4:30pm Tue-Sat, 1-5pm Sun; ) may be the biggest surprise of your trip to O′ahu. It covers the artistic traditions of almost every continent, playing a leading role in the area of Asian art. Here you can see masterpieces by Monet, Matisse and Gauguin; galleries of Greek and Roman antiquities and Italian Renaissance paintings; major works of American modern art; ancient Japanese woodblock prints by Hiroshige and Hokusai; Ming dynasty–era Chinese calligraphy and painted scrolls; Indian temple carvings; war clubs and masks from Papua New Guinea – and so much more.
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CRUISING FOR ART
Smart urban professionals now flock to once-seedy Nu′uanu Ave in Chinatown for a dose of art and culture, socializing, live music and bar-hopping. The city’s First Friday Gallery Walk (5-9pm 1st Fri of each month) is prime time for Chinatown’s art galleries, which set out free pupu (appetizers) and host entertainment to lure browsers. Pick up a walking map from any of two dozen art galleries; most are in a two-block radius of the landmark Hawaii Theatre (Click here).
A good place to start is at Pegge Hopper Gallery (Map; 524-1160; 1164 Nu′uanu Ave), which represents the namesake artist’s distinctive prints and paintings depicting voluptuous island women. Bethel St Gallery (Map; 524-3552; 1140 Bethel St) is an artist-owned cooperative displaying a mixed plate, from blown-glass sculptures to abstract painting. Ramsay Galleries (Map; 537-2787; 1128 Smith St) specializes in detailed pen-and-ink drawings and works by well-known Hawaii artists. For übercool ‘lowbrow’ art and one-of-a-kind customized surfboards, drop by the Chinatown Boardroom (Map; 585-7200; 1160 Nu′uanu Ave).
Escape the culture vultures at Hank’s Cafe Honolulu (Click here), which serves thirsty locals shots of art, spirits and live jazz at the Dragon Upstairs (Click here), or grab dinner at a neighborhood restaurant (Click here) before hitting the nightclub and lounge scene (Click here) that cranks up later in the evening.
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As explained by museum director Stephen Little, ‘The museum was founded in 1927 by Anna Rice Cooke to create an art collection that would reflect the diversity of the local population. She wanted this to be a place where children who are born here could come and examine their own cultural roots through the window of works of art and just as importantly discover something about their neighbors.’
Plan on spending a couple of hours here, maybe stopping for lunch at the Pavilion Café (Click here) and joining a tour out to Shangri La (Click here), Doris Duke’s enchanting estate near Diamond Head. Four-hour validated parking at the nearby Art Center lot costs $3.
UNIVERSITY OF HAWAI′I AT MANOA
Born too late for the tweedy academic architecture of the mainland, University of Hawai′i at Manoa (UH; Map; 956-8111; www.uhm.hawaii.edu; cnr University Ave & Dole St; ), the central campus of the statewide university system, is filled with shade trees and well-bronzed students, including from around Polynesia. UH Manoa has strong academic programs in astronomy, geophysics, marine sciences, and Hawaiian and Pacific studies.
Staff members at the UH Information & Visitor Center (Map; 956-7236; Room 212, Campus Center; 8:30am-4:30pm Mon-Fri) offer campus maps and free one-hour walking tours of the campus, emphasizing history and architecture. Tours leave from Campus Center at 2pm on Monday, Wednesday and Friday; to join a tour, show up 10 minutes beforehand. A Campus Art brochure, also available at the information center, outlines a self-guided