Thanks to longtime painters and art professors Snowden Hodges and Norman Graffam, Windward Community College is the home of an intensive workshop inspired by the 19th-century Italian atelier (studio) approach to learning art. In it, students create oils and drawings, of mostly portraiture and human figures, using techniques employed by the great European masters.

Through Oct. 2 the campus' Gallery 'Iolani is exhibiting works by participants of Atelier Hawaii over the past eight years. The workshop is the only class of its kind in Hawaii, offering six weeks of training in classical European techniques. Guest artist Jonathan Busse's work is on display alongside those of the students.

“;This is a remarkable exhibition which shows the strength of the painting program at Windward Community College,”; says Gallery 'Iolani director Toni Martin. “;The work is outstanding.”;

Martin says Atelier Hawaii has been particularly valuable to beginning art students, providing them a solid foundation for how to use materials and develop skills.

“;And most importantly,”; she says, “;it teaches them how to see.”;