Kailua’s artistic visionaries

Many believe that Kailua is becoming a haven for artists refusing to give in to consumerism

It's a half-year since the Second Sunday Artwalk debuted in Kailua, and the creator of this monthly event, Balcony Gallery manager Linda von Geldern, is as optimistic as ever about the outlook for fine art on the Windward side.

"The momentum is going," she says firmly, apparently unfazed at the turnout on this second Sunday in January -- a couple dozen people wandering through the Balcony Gallery and its new tenant, Lodestar Collective, as a guitarist provides breezy Hawaiian ambience on the ramshackle lanai.

"I think it's incredible that in the first two months, we had 600 people through here," von Geldern adds. "It may have had an ebb, but we're having an organizational meeting this week."

Next door, Daven Hee, one of the six artists behind the new collective Lodestar art gallery, sets a more pragmatic tone. "It's an expensive hobby," he shrugs good-naturedly, taking in the freshly painted room arrayed with paintings, ceramics, glass and jewelry. "You don't make money at this."

For Hee and the five other artists who gambled on entering the Kailua art market, profit is not really the point.

They got tired of waiting months to have a piece or two accepted into a juried exhibition or a downtown gallery that charges 50 percent commission, and yet they're not quite ready to start cranking out Hawaiiana trinkets to pay the rent. "Every day, I wake up and pray we don't become a gift shop," sighs ceramist Aaron Padilla.

Buoyed by the strides made by Balcony -- the first permanent venue for "serious" art in Kailua -- and the potential overflow from its Second Sunday openings, the six drew up a plan to share rent and five-day-a-week staffing, and committed to a year lease with Balcony, the building owners.

Of the six -- Hee, KC Grennan, Padilla, Carl Pao, Diana Sanchez and Maika'i Tubbs -- only Sanchez is not a graduate of the University of Hawaii art program, like Balcony Gallery co-owner Jodi Endicott. Along with Island Glassworks, a glass-blowing studio and gallery opened last year by UH graduate Geoff Lee, it would appear that the next generation of island-trained artists is putting down roots not in the much-ballyhooed art district in Chinatown, but in a quiet beach town on the Windward side.

The move, to some Kailua activists, comes as no surprise. The Windward side has always supported the arts, says Kathy Bryant-Hunter, chairwoman of the Kailua Neighborhood Board. She cites the many art-related venues, from craft fairs to cottage businesses, that have thrived for years in a very lifestyle-driven location. And as traffic over the Pali grows worse, she said, more artists and art buyers think of staying close to home.

"The galleries are a recognition that we supported them in all these other ways, maybe it will work in a formal place," she said.

Of course, there's no denying that tourism is also on an upswing, and while town planners have agonized for nearly a year about regulating the profusion of illegal bed-and-breakfasts, the artists all look forward to the prospect of more foot traffic downtown.

"Kailua is really evolving," said Lodestar member Carl Pao. "There's a Pier 1 and an Outback (steakhouse) coming in, and heavy bed-and-breakfast. We're trying to get in while we can."

Town leaders, meanwhile, weary of calming longtime residents' fears of runaway development, downplay the role of tourism in the changes downtown.

None of the new art galleries can rely on tourism alone, said Bryant-Hunter. Like other small businesses in Kailua, they must depend on local residents -- and that market itself is growing exponentially. The Island Treasures Art Gallery has doubled its space, she noted, while local garment makers Manuheali'i next door is "packed every day."

Indeed, retailers who cater to Kailua's casual but elegant, beach-oriented lifestyle are themselves adopting "a more upscale arts and cultural feel," said Kailua Chamber of Commerce President David Earles. He doesn't hesitate to point to the influx of homeowners with money to spend.

The boutique Global Village, for example, which began as a bead store and has tripled in size over the last decade to include locally made crafts and imported clothing, recently invited Kailua painter Christine Gallagher to show in the store.

After her easel paintings sold, the shop steered Gallagher toward smaller, desk-size canvases and prints, as well as greeting cards -- which sold out at Christmas, said store co-owner Dawn Ravelo.

The family-run shop is always on the lookout for fresh, artisanal products that will keep the women of Kailua interested, Ravelo said. "They're so open to giving a chance to someone new," said Gallagher, noting that the store even chanced a book-signing with local authors, timed to coincide with Second Sunday in December.

"Kailua in general is on an upswing," said the chamber's Earles. "You see property owners fixing up their stores. There is not a single square foot of office space in Kailua available for rent. I think what you see happening is more of the tattoo shops and such going away because they aren't as profitable."

Keeping close watch over consumer sentiment is, of course, the life blood of retail, and one of the few advantages that mom-and-pop ventures have over large chains is in adapting quickly to change. Ultimately, observers say, art galleries and studios must operate under the same economic laws as other small retailers -- even if their goals reach beyond selling.

"The bottom line is you have to sell stuff," concedes Padilla, of the Lodestar Collective. "But I think our vision as a whole is we want to keep the space as someplace where we can develop the whole art aspect of it."

The collective hopes to navigate between crowd-pleasers such as Sanchez's affordable jewelry and serious artwork. They give themselves "assignments," such as dog-themed pieces for an opening Jan. 28, and an "anti-Valentines" collection for the Second Sunday in February.

They also want to forge links with the Kailua business community and other retailers, said Pao -- but it is here that the artists have hit a stall. The changing fate of Second Sunday speaks to their unique predicament as both retailers -- that is, bottom-line businesses -- and the visionary element in society that often seeds creative new uses in run-down neighborhoods like Chinatown.

Second Sunday was modeled on similar events in mainland cities, not to mention First Friday downtown.

Initially it included 13 venues, from art galleries to Global Village, Island Treasures, Bead It, the Hunter Antiques, Tracy Brilhante Framing and Morning Brew -- just about any place downtown that had a piece of art in the shop. The first few events, and those with art openings, such as the Lodestar's grand opening in December, saw hundreds of well-wishers and residents parade through.

For the retailers, however, business considerations quickly took precedence. While none of the participants would say publicly that it hadn't worked for them, more than one noted that businesses have to be careful about taking on activities that add to costs.

A restaurant approached about extending its opening hours balked at the extra staffing. Longs Drug Store was asked to give up spaces in its new parking garage for a plein-air painting demonstration, and protested that Sunday is the store's busiest day.

Kaneohe Ranch, the major commercial landowner in downtown Kailua and Longs' lessor, was caught in the middle. While town leaders and artists alike praise the developer for supporting the idea of Kailua as a pedestrian-friendly art destination, it has been criticized for bringing in Pier 1 -- a "quasi big-box store," according to Rep. Cynthia Thielen -- and its president did not return calls to comment on the arts in Kailua.

Officially, at least, town players seem to share the vision of an artsy, small-town Kailua with vibrant festivals such as Second Sunday. But it has to make sense economically.

"For an artist to show their work, if we charge them something, they would have to be somewhat guaranteed of selling something," said Don Johnson, president of the 26-year-old Windward Artists Guild, of his membership participating in Second Sunday.

"If we could find a free place, someplace protected from rain, we would jump on that opportunity."

Johnson, for one, believes Kailua has the potential to become a veritable arts colony like Laguna Beach, Calif. "We have tons of artists living over here -- probably two-thirds of the art professors at the colleges live on this side."

The retired minister and multimedia artist, who has overseen rapid growth in the 169-member group since he took over a few years ago, doesn't mince words about what is needed for Kailua to fulfill its artistic potential: Loosen up resistance to B&Bs -- which he blames squarely on the Waikiki hotel industry -- and promote venues like Second Sunday.

"They still need to keep working at getting people to recognize it as an artsy place," Johnson said. "There's the potential for Windward, but it's going to take some of the big landowner merchants realizing what we realize: that art pays for itself."

For the six young artists in the Lodestar Gallery, anyway, that would be the answer to their prayers.

CORRECTION Wednesday, January 18, 2006 » Maika'i Tubbs's name was misspelled in a caption on Page E1 on Sunday. Tubbs is a member of the Lodestar Collective of artists in Kailua. Please see the applicable Corrections Page for more information.