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North Shore’s Haleiwa
arts fest is a treat

Gary Anderson will never forget the thunderstorms that assailed Oahu's North Shore three years ago, just before the start of the Haleiwa Arts Festival.

If you go ... What: Eighth annual Haleiwa Arts Festival Place: Haleiwa Beach Park, North Shore, Oahu Time: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. next Sunday Admission: Free. Art, food and souvenirs will be available for purchase. Call: 637-2277 E-mail: arts@HaleiwaArtsFestival.org Web site: www.HaleiwaArtsFestival.org Also: Free 50-minute trolley tours of Haleiwa will be offered on both days of the festival at 11 a.m., noon, and 2 and 3 p.m. Board the trolley in the parking lot of Haleiwa Beach Park on Kamehameha Highway. Sponsored by the North Shore Outdoor Circle, the tour will point out landmarks such as the old horse racing track, Waialua Sugar Mill and other remnants of plantation life. Longtime Haleiwa residents Francis Forsythe and Meryl Andersen will be the lead tour docents. They will be joined by other North Shore elders who will share personal stories about the community's colorful history and sites.

"It sure didn't seem like summer," says Anderson, executive director of the nonprofit North Shore-based arts organization that spearheads the event and shares its name. "The rain started on Friday night and went on until late Saturday morning. There were flash floods, downed power lines and road closures in several areas of the North Shore, yet by 11 a.m. on Saturday, under still-threatening clouds, 2,000 people were at our event."

When heavy rains fell, most of the attendees ducked into booths, which wound up being a great opportunity for them to "talk story" with artists and fellow art lovers, browse and make purchases.

"They waited until the weather cleared so they could take their new acquisitions to their cars," Anderson recalls. "The consensus was: 'We're not going to let a little thing like the weather keep us away from this wonderful event! We come early so we get the first chance to discover and buy something new. We are the hard core!'"

Now in its eighth year, the Haleiwa Arts Festival has become one of Hawaii's biggest annual art events. From 18 participating visual artists in 1998, it has grown to 110 artists representing some four dozen traditional and contemporary genres of visual and performance arts. The inaugural event drew 3,000 attendees; this year, 15,000 people are expected to jam Haleiwa Beach Park on Saturday and next Sunday for a full day of fun.

Juried visual artists who work in oil, acrylic, ceramic, photography, paper, pen and ink, watercolor, metal, fabric, serigraphy, glass and more will display and sell their original and limited-edition creations. Merchandise runs the gamut from jewelry, clothing and dolls to clocks, ikebana and engraved stone shingles.

Don't miss the intriguing wood sculptures by Jay Marr, who finds inspiration in the natural shapes of trees and branches.

"He then uses his tools and imagination to translate the wood into art," says Anderson. "One of his most unusual sculptures was an 8-foot-tall giraffe carved from a single piece of wood."

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STAR-BULLETIN / 2000 Keith Buckhold, 4, had his face painted as a shark at a previous Haleiwa Arts Festival.

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THIS YEAR'S FESTIVAL will also feature a student art display; storytelling (for instance, Albert Moniz will be telling tales about Hawaiian cowboys and doing roping and bullwhip demonstrations); original music and dance numbers presented with audience participation; demonstrations of ceramics, woodworking and painting; and a host of hands-on children's activities, including face painting, mural drawing, and modeling with clay, both free-form and using a potter's wheel.

Oceanfront Haleiwa Beach Park provides a beautiful backdrop for all the diversions. "We set up our display areas in a manner that does not create 'main streets and back streets,'" Anderson says. "Instead, it's a free-flow site that allows for the discovery of something new no matter which way you turn."

The goal, he notes, is to offer a structured balance of artistic mediums and styles.

"We work very hard to make this an event that stimulates artistic appreciation and education, is accessible to a broad demographic of attendees and that is neither swap meet nor elitist in persona."

That the festival has grown by leaps and bounds is due in large part to the dedicated grass-roots membership of HAF, which was founded in 1997. Back then, artists, gallery owners, arts educators and other arts advocates on the North Shore realized that although many artistic works were being created in their district, they were not being broadly shown, and the artists were not being widely recognized.

HAF launched the festival in part as a venue for these artists but also as an opportunity for the public to be exposed to new artists and to be reminded of the beauty and importance of art. Its mission is "to promote education and public awareness of arts and culture, with emphasis on participation, for the betterment of the community."

Says Anderson, "At the festival, unlike many galleries, attendees can meet and talk with the artists, who are thrilled to explain the meaning behind their work and their techniques and inspirations. We wanted this to be an event where the entire family could become aware of, learn about and appreciate art -- and perhaps be motivated to create something themselves. HAF's motto says it all: 'Celebrate the Arts! Rediscover the Artist Within!'"

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HALEIWA ARTS FESTIVAL Prepare for traffic as 15,000 are expected to enjoy the performing and visual arts at next weekend's Haleiwa Arts festival.

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About the Haleiwa Arts Festival

The Haleiwa Arts Festival's objectives are to:

1. Enhance public awareness, education and appreciation of the arts and their impact on society.
a. Provide a venue for the exhibition of local artists and their work, of which the projected annual Haleiwa Arts Festival will be a primary focus.
b. Through the projected annual Haleiwa Arts Festival, provide a venue for the public to participate in and view a broad spectrum of arts.
2. Promote art education by funding the appearance of established artists as adjunct faculty in schools through grants.
3. Expose students to career opportunities in the arts.
4. Respond to requests to facilitate instructional support in the arts for local groups through workshops and demonstrations.
5. Provide grant opportunities for community-approved projects of general artistic and visual improvements to physical communities.

HAF currently has a membership of 54 art enthusiasts throughout Oahu. It welcomes new members; anyone with a desire to help develop arts appreciation and education may join. Annual membership contributions begin at $25. Contact HAF via phone or e-mail (see information above).

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HALEIWA ARTS FESTIVAL There will be hands-on art-making activities for the youngest enthusiasts at the eighth annual festival.

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Festival performances
Saturday

10 a.m.: Celtic Pipes and Drums
11 a.m.: Student performance by the Colors of Music Studio
Noon: Original contemporary music with Shivani and Roshan
1 p.m.: Na Lei Nani O Waialua Hula Halau and Ukulele Group
2 p.m.: Modern dance by the North Shore Dance Project
2:30 p.m.: Brother Sun world music
3:30 p.m.: Kua Aina Plantation Hawaiian Music
4:30 p.m.: Capoeira Hawaii demonstrates Brazilian martial arts dance form

Sunday

10 a.m.: Royal Scottish Country Dancers Heritage Dances
11 a.m.: "Paniolo Days" Storytelling with Albert Moniz
Noon: "A Taste of Opera & Theatre" with the Hawaii Opera Theatre Ensemble
1 p.m.: Big-band, jazz, pop and classical music with Honolulu Community Concert Band
2 p.m.: Island music and dance with Na Leo Nahenahe O Na Kupuna
3 p.m.: U.S. Army Tropic Lightning Band musical treats from the 25th Infantry
4 p.m.: Ron Artis and Family Jazz Improvisation

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