GIAC • Kauai Crafts Studio

the Garden Island Arts Council
808-245-2733
giac@hawaiilink.net

The Kauai Crafts Studio (KCS) is a workshop program. Workshops related to Theme Exhibitions are presented. KCS promotes increased cultural and artistic exchange among artists, individuals, and organizations on a local, state, national, and international level.

Life Drawing Weekly Classes at Aloha Center in Nawiliwili

Every Wednesday at 5:30 pm
Life Drawing
Time: 5:30 8:30 pm
Aloha Center
Call 808-241-0358 for more information or subscribe to the GIAC email list at giac@hawaiilink.net.

Janet de Boer Presentation

Tuesday, January 29, 6:00 pm potluck followed by slides presentation
Location: Kukui Grove Center Exhibition Space

Garden Island Arts Council hosts
Janet De Boer from the USA/Australia,
Editor of Textile Fibre Forum Magazine

Showing slides of works by Inga Hunter, one of Australia's foremost artists in Mixed Media and
Creator of the Robes of "Imperium" series (one image of her robe and one of mixed media work)

PLUS slides of origins of Australian wearable arts,
Some with aboriginal influence

Contact: Mizu EMAIL, 337-1001

Poets Without Borders

Poets Without Borders is no longer meeting... please check this page or GIAC news for information about new poetry happenings.

More about Kauai Poetry, Statewide Poetry Contest Results & Poets Without Borders

Van Go!

Van Go! at the YWCA




	The one of the finished self portrait pillows by the girls at YWCA

Van Go! in the "recycle art" booth at the Eastside Family Summit

Kauai Van Go! Arts program at Eastside Family Summit

Van Go! Goes Without the Van... to Ni'ihau


	Van Go! makes its first public debut at the Storybook Theater's Rainbow Circus celebration in Hanapepe Park on July 23, 2005. Not everyone was impressed with Van Go!'s presence. More pictures of Van Go! and Vand Go! activities.

Excerpt from Patricia Yu's e-mail to Carol Yotsuda: "I guess that is why you never stop giving and teaching whenever you have a chance. It is so rewarding. "

Early Thursday morning, GIAC's Van Go! headed west with five artists to have an Art Day at Ke Kula Ni'ihau O' Kekaha, a charter school for the children of Ni'ihau located in Kekaha.

We all arrived at 8:00 a.m. where Principal Haunani Seward greeted and led our way toward the entrance where two high school girls greeted us with a chant. We advanced into the tiny carpeted classroom where 35 students and their teachers awaited us with eager looks of anticipation on their faces and giggles of shyness as they sized each of us up.

We were asked to sit in the chairs at the front. The students all stood us and chanted a greeting in Hawaiian with the most marvelous blend of voices ringing out from each and every child.

I glanced at the four other artists and smiled at the tears welling up and the look of awe in their faces. Lynn, one of the artists later told me she said to one of the girls, "Your music made me cry." and the girl replied, "Oh, that's nothing...wait till you hear us sing."

And sing they did from their hearts. Throughout the day as we worked at the tables, each group would sing and the other group would reply in song with voices in harmony. Before lunch, they sang a prayer for their food. Near the end of the day, the Principal told us that if we got cleaned up early, the students wanted to sing for us, so we all stepped into high gear to pack up our supplies and were treated to a half hour concert of wonderful songs in Hawaiian led by their art teacher Hokuau Ka'ohelauli'i. It left us all floating for the rest of the week and had to keep telling each other how life altering the experience was.

(Note: These same children will be the presenters at the March 21 E Kanikapila Kakou along with their kupuna Kumu Mama Ane Kanehele and their music teacher Hokuau Ka'ohelauli'i. EKK meets at island School from 6:00 to 9:00 pm.)

The day went perfectly which is a feat in itself as 35 kids crowded into one room sitting on the carpeted floor with not a single incident of disagreement or fighting is amazing in my eyes as I have taught for 37 years in the public schools. Also, Kekaha is the hottest part of the island temperature wise.

We presented the students with an integrated lesson moving from their knowledge of animal words, translated in Hawaiian words, moving into designing graphic images of animals using both English and Hawaiian words, then again translating the graphic images into 3-D sculpture-mobiles using recycled materials, and exploring movements and sounds of animals. It was a packed day.

We were really surprised as we went prepared for words such as cat, dog, owl, pig, frog; and they came up with cheetah, panthers, unicorns, kangaroo, tiger shark, and many other exotic animals which we listed on six large sheet papers.

When I asked them to give me the Hawaiian words for each animal and was trying, in my confused way, to get the "okinas" and "Kahako'os" in the right place, one young pre-teen boy stood up and asked if he could write it correctly for me, so I asked him to come up and do it. When he did, all the other students except for the kindergarten children raced up to the posted sheets and looked like a swarm of bees on a nest as they all anxiously wrote the Hawaiian words for each animal. In some cases, the words were incorrect so the teachers helped to get the right words.

Patricia Yu, showed them the next step of taking the letters of the English or Hawaiian name and designing attractive word posters out of the letters. The catch is that each cluster of letters needed to look like the animal. It was a challenge that each child found fascinating and sketched out on newsprint until they proudly walked around showing each artist what they designed.

Lynn Taylor then showed her examples of how these poster designs would be translated into three dimensional sculptures, again using the letter forms. I introduced the concept of "artistic license" to the students, so that they would feel free to manipulate the letters to suit their artistic visions.

I showed them a finished example of how they could embellish their sculptures with all the recycled nice trash that we brought with us. By this time, they were itching to get going on the project.

Mizu Sumida and Travis Williams set out the truckload of supplies we brought with us onto two long tables with container after container of decorative recycled stuff. They set up the hot-glue tables. Students were fascinated as they ran their fingers through each container, marveling that things that would otherwise be thrown away could be incorporated into works of art. It was like Christmas for them.

Travis took the youngest group out to work on the movements of animals. At first the children were shy as he can be formidable looking with his tall muscular physique, sculpted head of dreadlocks, his piercing eyes gazing out of his ebony skin, and his low voice....but within three minutes they discovered he was a teddy bear and were laughing, tumbling around, doing animal movements and hanging all over him. The same thing happened when he worked with the next age group of pre-teens; he looked like the Pied Piper.

The older students were divided into three age groups so each artist worked with one group and helped them take their graphic images into three dimensional sculpture mobiles. The teachers were right there creating their own animal sculptures as they did not want to miss out on the fun. I think there might also have been some parents working with us.

At the end of the day, there were colorful animal mobiles hanging from the ceiling and posters all over the wall. As the children sang their songs, many eyes were looking upward, entranced by their own creations.

After their final hymn, each child walked up and gave each of us bear hugs, whispering in our ears, "I love you!", "This is my best day!", "Please come again!", and so on.

Van Go! is supported by generous donations from our Art Angels and a grant from the Cooke Family Foundation; Kaua'i County Recyle/Reuse grant helps us with the non-recycle supplies for this activity.

Happy Crutches, Wacky Walkers & Wheelie Cool Wheelchairs & Van Go! picture gallery

Budding artist is intent on mixing the right colors for her Happy Crutches. She is one of many children (and adults) who got to play with paint and get expressive.

Tiffany, one of the students of Ke Kula Ni'ihau O' Kekaha, concentrates on getting the stripes painted just right on her Happy Crutches.

Van Go! meets the happiest faces on the island...Art lives!

Onlookers at the Storybook Theater's Rainbow Circus are intrigued with the idea of recyling used crutches into colorful, attractive works of art. Van Go! brings Arts to the People and People to the Arts.

Some like to watch while others like to get right into the paint.

Foreground left are the inspirational crutches that Rocky Riedel created for Carol Yotsuda. It inspires artists young and old to paint creatively on their own crutches.

(l) volunteer Judy Milani from San Raphael and (r) artist Patricia Yu enthusiastically prepare for the children to paint their Happy Crutches.


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