Local Color
Sunday, May 20, 2001
TODAY, painter Cathy Kotoshirodo will finally get to see the famous anthurium painting by her 6-year-old daughter, Madison. It's the one she did in her kindergarten class at Le Jardin Windward Oahu Academy, and it is one of the 96 children's artworks selected for display at the Hawai'i Convention Center for a year. Kindergartners
debut at convention
center art exhibit"She's excited about it, but I don't really know what it looks like," Kotoshirodo said. "One day, she just came home and told me she won a contest."
The children's art is to be dedicated today at the center (for more information, see pages 28 and 29), giving Kotoshirodo and many other parents the chance to see their children's winning works for the first time.
Madison's anthurium -- a bold impressionistic play of colors -- has the added honor of being chosen for the dedication ceremony's program cover.
This year is the first time kindergarten works have been included. Although the statewide contest always has been open to that age group, no entries were received until this year.
"I am really excited about getting the kindergartners in there," said Dorothy Oshiro, who has coordinated the annual art contest since the convention center opened four years ago.
"Kids at this age really do very wonderful artwork," Oshiro said. "They are so free, they do some very interesting things."
The younger children, those from kindergarten through sixth grade, are the most expressive and individualistic, Oshiro said. Art teachers love teaching them, and judges love to look at their art. "The little kids are uninhibited, and they just slap on the paint. There's also a lot of variety."
Kimberly Farrant, Madison Kotoshirodo's art teacher, said younger children have a good intuitive sense of color and tend to have a lot of confidence in their ability to create something out of nothing.
"They don't have trouble finding their own inspirations. They are very original and individual. Their results are always far more sublime and beautiful than the examples I am trying to show them," Farrant said.
The youngsters' still-developing motor skills limit their rendering ability but also free them from copying trite images, Farrant said.
When children get to the seventh and eighth grades, they tend to become intimidated by conventional notions of art, and their works become structured and realistic, and less interesting and expressive, Oshiro said. But when they get to high school, children again can create interesting work because they have gained technical skills.
The children's exhibit at the center alternates between elementary works one year, other children through high school the next. The theme is always "My Island and Me," and entries must be two-dimensional, measuring 18 by 24 inches.
The art contest is open to all private and public schools in Hawaii. Each school may submit up to 10 pieces, and each year there are about 1,000 entries. This year's judges were artists Maile Yawata, Kazu Fukuda and Happy Tamanaha.
"This is really a big deal for the kids and their parents, to have their work chosen for the display. They are always anxious to get their work back. Being at the convention center, that kind of gives their work added importance, and I am glad," Oshiro said.
But Oshiro is worried about one thing: how the kindergartners will behave in public, especially when separated from their parents during the ceremony. The children are to sit in the front row by themselves, while their parents will be in the side sections.
The children need to sit through opening ceremonies and speeches. Then they have to go up on stage to receive certificates from Lt. Gov. Mazie Hirono, shake her hand, get their official picture taken and return to their seats to wait until all 96 of them complete the drill.
"The kids always have been really good," Oshiro said. "It's always been amazing to me how well behaved they are when they have to sit through the awards for the artists and speeches and all those things.
"But kindergartners ... they are just little babies! I don't know how long they can last without their mommies."
Gardening Calendar
Suzanne Tswei's art column runs Sundays in Today.
You can write her at the Star-Bulletin,
500 Ala Moana, Suite 7-210, Honolulu, HI, 96813
or email stswei@starbulletin.com
