Wailoa Arts and Cultural Center will host the 15th Annual Big Island Woodturners Club Exhibit from Friday through March 21. The public is invited to meet the woodturners at a free opening reception from 5-7 p.m. on Friday. There will
Wailoa Arts and Cultural Center will host the 15th Annual Big Island Woodturners Club Exhibit from Friday through March 21. The public is invited to meet the woodturners at a free opening reception from 5-7 p.m. on Friday. There will be entertainment and light refreshments.
The exhibit features turnings from artists from around Hawaii Island, including members of the West Hawaii Woodturners Club. Along with the opening reception, there will be a silent auction, a professional critique and demonstrations twice a day on Saturdays.
“You will have the opportunity to view over 200 of the best turnings our members have, and most of the turnings are made just to be entered into this show. There is always something wonderful going on during the exhibit. Increasing public awareness for the art of turning is made easy during this event,” said Wailoa Center administrator Codie King.
“It is quite a beautiful show, with many different woods and ‘out-of-the-box’ entries,” said King.
Saturday demonstrations are scheduled between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. on the next three weekends.
This Saturday, John Mydock will demonstrate his pyrography (woodburning) skills and Doug Leite will show how to get started in basic bowl turning.
On March 9, an inter-club competition will focus on a “thin off,” where each contestant has a half hour to turn the thinnest bowl of a given size that he or she can. There will be a cash prize for the turner creating the thinnest, intact bowl.
On March 16 Doug Keown will demonstrate the basket-weave technique using CNC Indexing and Dennis Hakes will demonstrate his wavy Norfolk pine bowl process.
The Big Island Woodturners Club is a nonprofit organization dedicated to educating its members and the public about woodturning.
“We complete our mission through membership meetings every other month, club challenges, hosting visiting demonstrators, an annual exhibit, and free public woodturning demonstrations,” said a club spokesman.
In 1997, the Big Island Woodturners Club became the first chapter of the American Association of Woodturners in the state of Hawaii. Formed by founding members Jack Straka, the late Elmer Adams, Doug Leite, Barry Ching and Kelly Dunn, the club membership now exceeds 70.
Through meetings held every other month at various woodturners’ studios, the club members share their experiences and learn from one another.
Wailoa Arts and Cultural Center is a facility of the Division of State Parks, Department of Land and Natural Resources. It is free and opened regularly to the public on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday from 9 a.m.-4:30 p.m. and on Wednesday from noon to 4:30 p.m. For additional information, please call 933-0416, fax 933-0417 or email wailoa@yahoo.com.
