Posts Tagged ‘Arts Cultural District Honolulu’

There are two absolutely perfect days for the annual rite of Halloween: Friday and Saturday, each allowing for unfettered fun & frolic.  Halloween 2009 falls on Saturday October 31^st so there is absolutely no excuse not to party especially when the party is in the Honolulu Arts District and more than seven bocks in and around Nuuanu Avenue will be closed to vehicular traffic.  An easy walk from the heights surrounding downtown or a $15 or $20 cab ride away from most anywhere in urban Honolulu you cannot ask for greater convenience or opportunities for fun & frolic.

This is a free street festival with plenty of entertainment on tap.  Five stages will host fifteen or more bands, ten or more DJ s spinning music, and unlike the ‘bull’ the City & County gives its citizenry there will be an actual mechanical bull one can ride.  Hallowbaloo kicks off at 5PM and runs to 10:30PM but the partying will continue on into Sunday at the various watering holes in the district.  For those that imbibe there is a special $10 ‘Club Crawl’ that will mosey on to 2 in the AM.

Five stages play host to the most awesome variety of music to be heard anywhere on the planet. Kona Brewing Company presents the Loloweeny Stage at the corner of Nuuanu Avenue & Pauahi Street.  80’s flashback Band ‘Ferris Bueller Band’ launch the fun at 5PM, then at 6PM one of Hawai’i’s hottest new bands ‘Painted Highways’ dazzle with a mix of Americana/Springsteen/Hard-Rock.  The headliner though is nationally known ‘Blitzen Trapper’ whose 2008 release, ‘Fur’ was ranked by Rolling Stone # 13 for the year, while NPR listeners placed them in the top 25, the band lands in Honolulu after a dizzying Summer tour that touched downed at Coachella, Austin City Limits, and Seattle’s Bumbershoot.  ‘Blitzen Trapper’ plays at 7PM, to be followed by the raucous sounds of ‘Haberdashery’ at 9PM.

Better Brands presents the Grandest Spectacle Stage at the corner of Hotel & Bethel Street where Celtic Rockers ‘Doolin Rakes’ kick open the festivities at 6:30PM.  Then at 8:30 the outrageous ‘Cherry Blossom Cabaret’ performs their seductive mix, followed by New Orleans legend ‘Anders Osborn’ with special guest ‘Kirk Johnson’ at 8:30PM.  Anders Osborn has released two acclaimed albums, Coming Down & Bury the Hatchet, a ‘Soul Maestro’ adept with acoustic as well as ‘Stratocaster’ guitar, a gifted songwriter, certain to make Hallowbaloo 209 memorable.

The Nuboo Stage on the corner of Nuuanu Avenue and King Street erupts at 6PM with 5-time Na Hoku winner Ernie Cruz Jr, followed at 7:15 by singer-songwriter Johnny Helm.  Then at 8:30 it is time for a costume contest offering up more than a thousand dollars in cash & prizes.  After the contest roots-reggae/funk will be on tap courtesy of local fave ‘Dub Phylum.’

The Mercury Stage on the corner of Chaplain Lane and Fort Street Mall will surge with vintage surf music via ‘Tiki Taboo’ at 6:30 PM followed by the power rock & blues of vocalist Kasi Nunes and Kings of Spades’ at 7:30.  Hawai’i Underground Music Award Winner ‘Black Square’ takes the stage at 9PM with dance inducing Ska.

The Dance Cauldron on Hotel Street midway between Nuuanu & Smith Street is home to a variety of DJs: Logoe, Sovern-T, Compose, and @EKASE, performing from 6PM thru 9PM.  Scope out ‘Bull’s Revenge’ starting at 6:10PM, mechanical bull rides for a bargain $3 a ride.

Another great deal for $10 a wristband opens the door to seven clubs each hosting an incredible array of DJs and bands.  A small sampling: Ursula 1000, DJ Benzi, Kitty Lee, DJ Mr Nick, and much more.  BAR 35 hosts a COSTUME CONTEST at 10:30 with $500 cash awarded along with ‘major loot,’ get there early to register.  Other sites to wet your thirst for HALLOWBALOO 2009: Ursula 1000 and Blitzen Trapper

HALLOWBALOO offers a bit of everything for everyone so troop on downtown for the fun Saturday October 31 2009.

There is a not so secret art gallery nestled on the second floor mezzanine (lobby) of The Pauahi Tower at 1003 Bishop Street in the heart of Honolulu and daily thousands of people rush by without exploring the treasures that it contains. Do yourself a favor and slow down. Take an extra fifteen or twenty minutes when you are downtown and check out the many art galleries and this one in particular. It is free, it is accessible and with a change of exhibits every month there is always something new and exciting.

Currently on exhibit, January 19th through February 14 2009, a triple treat, Visual Delights is a Benefit for the U.H. Historic Costume Collection and thus one is treated to the delightful artwork of Carol D’Angelo and Dexter Doi PLUS there are several exciting costumes on display, among them a floral print Hawai’i’an gown capturing the elegance of the 1930s and a gold lame caftan that epitomizes the giddy optimism of the Reagan 1980s.

http://www.doidangeloartworks.com/about/dangelo.shtml “Carol D’Angelo grew up in Southern California and attended Chouinard Art School (California Institute of the Arts) in Los Angeles. She lived in Italy for two years studying the Italian language and art. In 1969, D’Angelo moved to Hawaii where she finished her BFA and obtained both an MFA and a Masters in American Studies from the University of Hawaii. Soon after, she embarked on a very successful teaching career at both Honolulu Community College and the University of Hawaii. During this period she took a break from exhibiting but has returned full force for the last 9 years.  D’Angelo is currently teaching in the Apparel Product Design and Merchandising Program at the University of Hawaii at Manoa teaching Fashion Illustration, computer graphics, Costume History and is curator of the Historic Costume Collection. She has painted cut-out life sized paintings of athletes and a mixed media style combining fabric, collage, silkscreen and paint layered in rich imagery that hint at narrative without totally revealing it’s true intent. Her recent work consists of large oil paintings of florals and ladies in Hawaiian environments.”

What this quote does not say is that Carol D’Angelo creates playful pictures many available as prints, images that delight the senses, images that conspire to inspire imagination. One can find themselves delightfully lost in a D’Angelo painting. D’Angelo has an eye for the female form that is truly wonderful as well as an obvious delight in depicting animals as characters not mere scenery, her birds & cats have personality even those that present their backside to the viewer.

http://www.doidangeloartworks.com/about/doi.shtml “Born and raised in Hawaii, Doi began drawing and painting at a very early age. He attended the Honolulu Academy of Arts Summer Program. Convinced of a career in art, Doi went on to attend the University of Hawaii in the Drawing and Painting Program. He later moved to New York City in 1981 to further pursue his career and education. While working as a freelance artist, Doi attended the historic Art Student’s League Art School in Manhattan, the same school that Edward Hopper, Georgia O’Keefe and Jackson Pollock attended. Under the instruction of David Leffel, Doi began to evolve his current style.  Returning to Hawaii in 1987, Doi resumed a successful commercial art career. In 1992, Doi entered the Association of Hawaii Artists exhibition and won the “Best of Show Award”. This confirmed his decision to pursue his fine art career. Many awards and exhibitions have followed. Some of the projects Doi has designed are the American Savings Bank Calendar, The Hawaii Five-O 30th Anniversary Poster and a portrait of Japanese Pop Star, Namie Amuro.”

This quote is equally coy in conveying the talents of Dexter Doi. No less playful than D’Angelo, his humor is subtle & ironic. Doi’s interplay of color and patterns real & artificial craft a mood that encourages the brain to think. Many of his paintings seem ordinary yet have an extraordinary ability to linger in the mind’s eye. One steps outside seeing shadows in quite literally a different light while finding renewed delight in Koi Ponds & Aquariums.

Bishop Square has been providing a space for art for more than twenty-five years, currently under the watchful eye of Wayne Tanaka, 808-371-5970, he can assist with information or for booking art for future exhibitions. One can visit the Pauahi Tower Gallery between 7AM and 7PM Monday thru Friday, and 7AM to 2PM on Saturdays, closed on Sunday. Visual Delights will run to February 14th 2009, 15 % of all sales will be donated to benefit the U.H. Costume Collection. For more info please contact Carol D-Angelo, Instructor Curator Apparel Product Design Center & Merchandising Program via 808-956-2234.