The East Hawaii Cultural Center in downtown Hilo is getting ready for a new chapter with the appointment of a new executive director, Laurie Rich.
Rich and her husband moved to the Big Island in April 2022 and have fully embraced the community by contributing to local organizations such as, Zero Waste Hawaii Island, the MEGA Lab and EHCC.
“We instantly have felt so embraced by the community with the spirit of collaboration, which is how I found out about EHCC,” Rich said. “I was so struck by people doing amazing things and doing them so well here. Everyone has something to contribute, and the community spirit is amazing.”
Rich is an experienced leader in the nonprofit sector as the former executive director of the David Brower Center in Berkeley, Calif.
Rich spent seven years in the role, managing office tenants, a conference center, restaurant, environmental education programs and gallery space.
One of her biggest accomplishments in California was initiating Art/Act: Youth, an annual environmental art exhibition and education program to increase youth activity at the Center.
After volunteering for a year in Hilo, Rich wrote a grant and created a similar program for EHCC, Youth Artivists Hawaii. She collaborated with other organizations, MEGA Lab and Pangeaseed Foundation, to create and facilitate an environment-based art camp at EHCC for 30 kids in July.
“Every person and group involved in the camp saw the opportunity to provide for young people, and everyone embraced the idea with their own specific talents,” Rich said. “The camp allowed kids to learn about the environment through an artistic and creative lens that goes beyond a standard curriculum. It was meant to teach them by unlocking different parts of their brain.”
The camp is one example of many things Rich hopes to implement as executive director. One of her first priorities is establishing a full-time staff of four people for the first time at EHCC.
“EHCC has recently acquired the capital to bring on staff and make some of our longest volunteers full-time employees,” Rich said. “Having that sustainability and investing in staffing will increase our capacity for programming and allow us all to be fully present here to hone in on what we do.”
Although a long-term goal, Rich hopes to address the deterioration of the historic building that houses EHCC, which was once Hilo’s police station and courthouse.
“The building is incredible, but it needs to be taken care of,” Rich said. “We want the building to represent what Hilo is and become a shining star of the community while still being part of Hilo’s history.”
Rich is excited to be part of EHCC and its mission to bring people together in the name of art and culture.
“It’s so important to offer artistic and cultural opportunities, because it shows us what’s possible. It gives us a new view and increases compassion, empathy, understanding, and creativity in ourselves and in one another,” Rich said. “Having spaces outside of work and home where people can come together is a valuable thing to provide in community.”
Carol Walker has served as the official executive director for about a year, although she had taken on many leadership roles as a volunteer and board treasurer.
Walker plans to remain active with EHCC as a board member, volunteer and director of its Javanese gamelan program.
“What appealed to me about EHCC was the enormous potential that wasn’t tapped yet, and it was so fun to be part of establishing more in my time,” Walker said. “Everyone is so dedicated to the mission, and volunteers spend their time working tirelessly to make EHCC everything it is.
“I’m about to turn 65 and with Laurie coming in, this felt like a good time for me to step down,” Walker added.
Walker plans to spend her time working on growing EHCC’s performing arts opportunities by using the theater more for other events like spoken word and world music.
For more information about EHCC and its programs, visit ehcc.org or call 961-5711. Current gallery and office hours are from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, and the gallery is also open from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturdays.
Email Kelsey Walling at kwalling@hawaiitribune-herald.com.