Highlights

LOOK
Buy a $10 ticket for Augie's Comedy Crusade and you'll be helping the Waipahu High School Athletic Department. The show is safe for ALL ages and the lineup includes Timmy Mattos and Jose Dynamite with music by One Night Stand. The laughter begins at 7:30 p.m. in Waipahu High's gym. Call Andrew Garcia at 372-8513.

LISTEN
“;Falling”; by Iration (www.myspace.com/iration)

DO
Bluegrass Hawaii Traditional & Bluegrass Music Society is having its Pickin' in the Park jam session, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Wahiawa Botanical Gardens. Kilin Reece of Saloon Pilots will lead a free workshop on practical application in real jam situations at 11:30 a.m. Call 206-3459.

VIGNETTES

(For images from these events, see the photo gallery attached to this story.)

UH art department opens undergraduate exhibition

The Art and Art History Department at the University of Hawaii-Manoa presents its annual exhibit of undergraduate work in “;Visually Speaking: BFA Exhibition 2009,”; opening today at the UH Art Gallery.

The show features recent student work in painting, printmaking, fiber, glass, drawing, graphic design, ceramics, sculpture and intermedia. Students also plan and execute all aspects of the production and installation of the exhibit.

The show runs through May 15. An additional show of works by students who received awards and scholarships runs through May 8 in the Commons Gallery, adjacent to the main gallery.

An awards ceremony will be held at 2 p.m. today, followed by a reception from 3 to 5 p.m.

The UH Art Gallery is in the art department building. It is open 10:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays to Fridays and noon to 5 p.m. Sundays. The Commons Gallery is open until 4:30 p.m. weekdays and until 4 p.m. Sundays. Call 956-6888.

Other highlights

» Art collectors on a budget, take note: This is the last week of Bethel Street Gallery's “;Affordable Art Show and Sale,”; featuring works by various local artists. Prices run up to $1,000 but most works are under $500. Continues through Friday. Hours at the gallery, located at 1140 Bethel St., are 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesdays to Fridays, and Saturdays until 4 p.m. Call 524-3552 or visit http://www.bethelstreetgallery.com for a preview.

» J. Crew On-the-Island is teaming up with the Honolulu Academy of Arts for a fundraising event Friday in which proceeds from the day's sales will benefit the academy's education programs. Artwork from three youth programs will be on display in the store, located in Ala Moana Center, from Wednesday through May 5. A reception for the children will be held from 7 to 9 p.m. Friday. Call 532-8720.

» Artwork by more than 120 high school students is on display at Pearlridge Center, Uptown, through Thursday. The Congressional Art Competition will select one student's work as “;Best in Show,”; and the student and his teacher will travel to Washington, D.C., this summer to see the work on view in the nation's capital.

» The Contemporary Museum's monthly “;Expression Session”; art workshop for families takes place at 10:30 a.m. Saturday at the Makiki Heights museum. Kauai artist Melinda Morey will teach “;My Face,”; in which participants will draw a self-portrait. Classes are geared for children ages 5-12 and are held the first Saturday each month. Fee is $12 per person, $7 TCM members. For reservations, call 237-5230 or e-mail .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).

ARTS & CRAFT

Lei images help scholarship fund

Children from Maili Land Transitional Housing in Waianae show their photographic chops in the second annual Lei Fund project benefiting a college scholarship fund for underprivileged children.

The Lei Fund paired youths ages 7 to 13 with Chaminade University photography students to shoot flora and leis; fund organizers Rusty and Minako Kent teach a “;Photography in Education”; communications course there.

Photos by the children will be for sale on May 1 at the 82nd annual Lei Day celebration at Kapiolani Park and the Kahala Hotel & Resort.

The project will also donate 500 stills to the Queen's Medical Center to commemorate its 150th anniversary.

The Kents found inspiration for the Lei Fund in the charitable efforts of King Kamehameha IV and Queen Emma, founder of the hospital. The king walked door to door to solicit donations to build the hospital, and the queen hosted craft fairs and concerts. In one month the couple raised enough money to start construction on a 18-bed facility.

“;Our aspiration with the Lei Fund is to follow Queen Emma's model of kindness, by starting off small and dreaming big,”; says Minako Kent.

Photographs by the children are also available for purchase by visiting www.leifund.org.

Sculptor to discuss commission works

Sculptor Karen Lucas will speak at this month's “;Art Lunch”; lecture about her work on large-scale commissions by the Hawaii State Foundation on Culture and the Arts.

“;Making art is a challenge and a joy,”; she says. “;It is endless problem solving, like a mysterious, complex puzzle, and can be a very stimulating form of play.”;

The Wisconsin-born Lucas, who moved to Hawaii in 1991, uses a wide range of materials and employs various techniques, such as bronze casting, ceramics, plaster and mosaic. Lucas teaches at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, where she received her MFA, and is the art therapist for Hospice Hawaii.

“;Art Lunch”; will be held noon Tuesday in the multipurpose room at the Hawaii State Art Museum. Admission is free. Call 586-0900 or visit www.hawaii.gov/sfca.