Holualoa, Hawaii- Hawaii Artist Collaboration (HAC) has awarded grants totaling $5,000 to Hawaii Island K-12 art teachers. The funds represent proceeds from the annual art making gathering and auction held here each October. A credit in that amount was established at Akamai Art Supplies in Kona who distributed the awards to teachers participating in the grant process.
Hawaii Island art educators were invited to apply for a portion of the grant money early this year following the fall 2022 auction. That event raised money from more than 100 pieces of art created by 35 master artists working together over a four day period.
The participating invitation-only artists represented 14 different media ranging from ceramics, wood working, painting, iron work, jewelry and more. While most of the artists are based on the Big Island, artists from the neighbor islands, the mainland and from around the world were part of this year’s event. These career artists believe that making art is an important part of education as it encourages problem-solving and creative approaches to many learning situations.
The HAC artists have raised $30,000 for local art teachers since 2015 and the grants also have helped teachers in several other subjects incorporate art into their classrooms. Plans are currently underway for an October 22-29 2023 gathering and auction as this program continues to expand each year.
For more information on HAC and how to contribute to this effort, contact Tai Lake, at tai@hawaiiartistcollaboration.org.