Wailoa Center hosted the inaugural Contemporary Craft Juried Exhibit in September sponsored by the Hawaii Island Art Alliance with 46 artisans participating in mediums of clay, glass, wood, metal, fiber and mixed media.
Wailoa Center hosted the inaugural Contemporary Craft Juried Exhibit in September sponsored by the Hawaii Island Art Alliance with 46 artisans participating in mediums of clay, glass, wood, metal, fiber and mixed media.
It was widely attended by visitors from all throughout the Islands and abroad. Visitors were asked to cast their vote for their favorite submission in any of the categories, but they could not vote for artwork submitted by the jurors.
The votes were tallied and the winner was entry No. 43, “Mango Rocking Chair,” finely crafted by East Hawaii woodworker Alex Franceschini.
In addition to his interest in furniture woodworking, Franceschini has worked as a commercial ocean diver, pilot, skydiver and electromechanical engineer.
His current project is exploring the rocking chair, evoking memories of a favorite rocker his aunt had during his childhood.
This year’s jurors were Phan Barker, Elizabeth Miller, Tai Lake, Clayton Amemiya and Michael and Misato Mortara.
A second Contemporary Craft Juried Exhibit has been added to the Wailoa Center calendar for September 2017.
Next year is the 50th anniversary of Wailoa Center and to help celebrate, one of its sponsors for the juried exhibit will be the Oahu-based Hawaii Craftsmen.
Wailoa Center is a Division of State Parks, Department of Land and Natural Resources. It is free and open to the public from 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday.
For more information, call 933-0416 or email wailoa@yahoo.com.