The Honolulu Academy of Arts has reformatted its regional juried exhibition, Artists of Hawai'i, as a biennial. There will be no Artists of Hawai'i exhibition this year.

The 58th installment is scheduled to open in May 2009 and run through early July 2009.

The new format is designed to give Hawai'i-based artists more time to produce new work, and will give second-round candidates an opportunity to interact directly with the guest curator/juror through studio visits, according to the museum.

The intention is that Artists of Hawai'i will have increased prominence by allowing artists time to plan and realize ambitious work that will be seen for the first time at the exhibition.

"In the past, a great deal of the work chosen for Artists of Hawai'i had already been seen at other venues in Hawai'i. At this point then, the exhibition becomes more of a marketing opportunity than a platform for the exchange of ideas," Michael Rooks, the academy's curator of European and American art, said in a news release.

"We hope that this new format will provide artists an occasion to develop new work and, in the process, enhance the distinction that Artists of Hawai'i has bestowed on its participants in the past," Rooks added.

Like last year's exhibition, Artists of Hawai'i 2009 will be juried online for the first round. In addition, the juror will conduct individual studio visits with artists for a second round. Artists will be notified of final selections after the second round has been completed. More information will be posted this summer on the Academy's Web site, www.honoluluacademy.org.