Art ambassadors take Museum-in-a-Box show to schools
By Wanda A. Adams
Assistant Features Editor
The chance to hear about art, see it, and create it alongside Hawai'i artists and artisans is at the core of a Honolulu Academy of Arts program for students called "Museum-in-a-Box."
Honolulu Academy of Arts
The program, a step-by-step introduction to appreciating and making art, has grown dramatically since it was launched by curatorial assistant Betsy Robb during the academy's popular "Mystery of the Nile" exhibit last year.
Kloe Kang shows youngsters art from the trunk which goes with her on visits to schools.
This museum comes to students, with the help of the academy's "ambassadors of art" — one of eight artists or art appreciators trained to carry out this task.
They visit schools with a large, wheeled trunk in tow. Inside, there's a mini-display on one of the two exhibit areas: "Hawaii and Its People: Faces and Figures," which focuses on traditional arts of Hawai'i and other Pacific cultures, and "East Meets West," which compares and contrasts Asian and Western art styles.
Along with pictures of artworks, the box contains artifacts the students can hold and touch.
This visit readies students for a museum tour that includes interactive games and exercises.
The tour is followed by a second school visit from the artist ambassador. This time around, students learn to make artworks of their own, and reflect on the experience they have had.
Teachers have been so eager to enroll their students in the program that it has tripled since its inception, Robb said.
Last October, a new curatorial assistant, Jenny Engle, was hired to design the "Hawaii and Its People" tour, which includes a tour of a new interactive gallery in the Education Center, as well as visits to the Holt Gallery Hawaiian art collection. Engle also schedules the tours.
The idea of a traveling museum isn't exactly new for the academy, Rice said. Seventy-five years ago, founder Ann Rice Cooke used to make field trips to schools, carrying artworks to show to students.
Of course, many schools make field trips to the academy, but the museum-in-a-box idea was designed to assure that students would be adequately prepared for their visits. "We send out slides before students visit, but sometimes the teachers don't have time to show them, or don't know much about the art. This way, when they get to the museum they recognize things. It's much more exciting for them," Robb said.
And the students don't just look at art, they touch it, talk about it and make it, which allows it to become more relevant to their lives. In the schools, "The kids don't get much art now," Robb said.
The "East Meets West" program is meant to be a cross-cultural exchange during which students look at Asian furniture styles and artwork, for example, and then go on to look at similar pieces in the Western art galleries of the academy. Afterward, they paint a scroll or make a fan or design a chop (an Asian signature stamp), but with a contemporary theme.
Teachers are encouraged to tailor the visit to the needs of the class, even possibly dovetailing with other curriculum.
One reason "Museum-in-a-Box" has been able to grow is that grants and private gifts have been readily available, providing a stipend for the ambassadors and paying for bus transportation for the students to visit the schools. "People are so willing to give to outreach like this," Robb said.
Schools contribute if they can, but this is not required. For rural schools, especially, the opportunity to participate in a paid-for field trip is a boon, Robb said. Many are unable to afford the bus fees to visit the museum regularly.
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News of the arts
• New gallery in Kaimuki — A new gallery and shop, workspace, will open at 3624 Wai'alae Ave., Suite 201, in Kaimuki March 1. The first exhibit opens with a free, public reception on that date and will feature works of lightboxes and paintings by Duncan Dempster, creature sculptures by Ari Eichelberger, soft sculptures by Kris Higa, drawings by Ryan Higa and fantasy tableau photography by Cade Roster. The gallery shop, workspace, will feature prints, small-scale artwork, limited-edition clothing and other artist-made products for sale. Hours will be 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday, 11 a.m.-7 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Information: Ryan Higa, 621-6975.
• Islamic Gallery to close for renovations — The "Arts of Islam" exhibit at the Honolulu Academy of Arts will close June 2 and reopen in October after a thorough renovation, including new cases, flooring and lighting. Tom Klobe of the University of Hawai'i Art Gallery is the designer. The new Islamic Art gallery will be opened in cooperation with the Doris Duke Foundation of Islamic Art; the academy recently agreed to serve as the gateway for tours of the heiress' Islamic art collection at her former home, Shangri La in Kahala. All tours of that collection will begin at the academy and the academy's Islamic gallery, which will display works from Duke's collection, will serve as orientation for those outings.
Advertiser art critic Virginia Wageman is recuperating from surgery. Reach her at vwageman@aol.com.
Correction: Betsy Robb is a curatorial assistant at the Honolulu Academy of Arts. Due to a reporter's error, her name was spelled incorrectly in a previous version of this story.
