Jerome Heck

Exposure to outside artists and their ideas and techniques are an important part of maintaining a viable hold in the national and international craft scene; as is maintaining excellence amongst our artists.

To address these concerns, Hawai`i Craftsmen conducts the following basic programs:

• `Aha Hana Lima ("Gathering of the Crafts") is held annually. It's a series of intensive 3-day workshops, lectures, and dialogs concerned with various media: clay, metal, wood, fiber, or glass. A free open to the public slide lecture at Arts @ Marks and exhibition of the guest artists work are also part of this event.
• Raku Ho`olaule`a, is an annual community Raku ceramics workshop and camp out, preceded by an Urasenke tea bowl workshop, a public demonstration of the construction of a clay piece, a slide lecture and a reception for the guest artist. The camp out is followed by a juried exhibition opened by a festive reception with a Tea Ceremony firing demonstration.
• The annual Statewide Juried Exhibition of traditional and contemporary crafts brings a juror of national or international reputation to the state to jury entries on Oahu, Maui, Kauai, Hilo, and Kona. The juror also presents a slide lecture at each site on his views and interpretations of either his work or the contemporary craft scene. Exhibiting artists and members of Hawai`i Craftsmen act as docents during the exhibit, which lasts for at least 3 weeks.
• Fiber Hawai`i, is generally offered every other year. This exhibition encourages participation from artists in all media who wish to explore fiber related work. In this case fiber as a media as well as fiber as an idea is encouraged. The juror also presents a slide lecture about their work or developments in the field, which is free and open to the public. When appropriate a workshop is also offered.

Other areas of activity for Hawai`i Craftsmen include:

Management of The ARTS at Marks Garage. In 2000 Hawai`i Craftsmen was designated one of the lead partners and the on-site manager for The ARTS at Marks Garage - an arts enterprise project in downtown Honolulu. This opportunity allowed us to increase our presence in the community and to offer expanded programming to our membership and the public.

Our four Film and Video Productions, created for education and outreach have won numerous awards and distinctions. The tiles include: The Hawaiian Quilt--A Cherished Tradition, Legacy of Excellence, Raku Ho`olaule`a and You Be the Judge.

The Living Masters Video Documentation Project documents Hawai`i's living folk arts masters and their arts. The archive project has created an accessible resource for artists and craftspeople, scholars and researchers, teachers and students, and interested citizens. Folk arts masters, who work in the area of lauhala weaving, boat building, makers of agricultural and ritual implements, saddle making, and fishnets will be considered for documentation.