Artist's belongings go up for sale

Those near and dear to the late Peggy Chun are holding a “;HUGE MOVING SALE”; from Chun's Nuuanu home which includes artwork, furniture, books and other items from the artist's personal collection.

The sale, which started yesterday, continues today from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. at 3115 Alika Ave.

Chun, a beloved local artist, died in November after a six-year battle with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis — ALS, or Lou Gehrig's disease.

Peggy Chun Gallery is slated to open this year in Chinatown.

Portrait contest picks 2 winners

The Schaefer Portrait Challenge 2009, an annual statewide juried exhibit held on Maui, has awarded Rich Hevner the Juror's Choice Award and Nobel Richardson the Marian Freeman People's Choice Award.

The juror's award carries a cash prize of $15,000, while the people's choice prize includes a $5,000 cash award.

The portrait challenge, which features subjects from the Hawaii community, is the signature exhibit at the Maui Arts & Cultural Center's Schaefer International Gallery. Jurors this year were Maile Andrade, David Behlke, A. Kimberlin Blackburn and Wayne Miyamoto.

Fifty-six works from 53 artists are showcased in the exhibit, which runs through today on Maui. Twenty works hail from Maui, 18 are from Oahu, 12 from the Big Island, three from Kauai, two from Molokai and one work comes from Lanai.

The show travels to Honolulu on May 29, when the Contemporary Museum at First Hawaiian Center displays the works, through Sept. 8.

Nisei photography show goes on tour

Photographer Brian Y. Sato's portraits of second-generation Japanese-Americans in Hawaii is being exhibited at the prestigious Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles in “;Gokurosama: Contemporary Photographs of the Nisei in Hawaii.”;

Sato spent six years documenting more than 70 nisei throughout the islands, and his portraits were initially exhibited at the Japanese Cultural Center of Hawaii in 2007.

Sato's photography has been included in the “;Artists of Hawaii”; exhibit and is part of the collections at the State Foundation of Culture and the Arts.

The show continues through May 24. Visit http://www.janm.org.

Stimulus bill includes funding for arts

Thousands of arts advocates across the country can claim hard-won victory, as the nation's Economic Recovery bill now includes $50 million slated for arts jobs through National Endowment for the Arts grants, the organization Americans for the Arts reported via e-mail last week.

The organization says arts advocates sent more than 85,000 letters to Congress and generated thousands of calls, letters to the editor, news stories and blog entries to cite the role of arts in the economy.

The nation's art communities are expecting further support from the $789 billion economic stimulus package.