A full schedule of art exhibits and events is scheduled for October in the Main Gallery of the Wailoa Center.
From Oct. 6-26, the gallery will feature the Big Island Ukulele Guild’s Stringed Instrument Exhibit and the Big Island Woodworkers and Artist Invitational.
The Stringed Instrument Exhibit showcases finely crafted ukulele by guild members as well as a separate juried ukulele contest. Meanwhile, woodworkers from throughout the Big Island were invited by the Hawaii Island Art Alliance to share their fine craftsmanship skills by exhibiting furniture, woodturnings and sculptures for the invitational.
Along with all the fine examples of wood, two invited artists, Darrell Orwig, a painter from Maui, and Stephen Freedman, a ceramic artist from East Hawaii, will accompany the exhibit.
The opening reception for all the artists will take place from 5-8 p.m. today at the Wailoa Center, 200 Piopio St. in the Wailoa River State Recreation Area.
The Stringed Instrument show is sponsoring four events throughout the month and each Saturday. Ukuleles will be given away at each event through a random, free drawing, but entrants must be present to win. All events are free and open to the public.
From noon-3 p.m. Saturday and Oct. 21, the community can enjoy the afternoon listening to the groups’ kanikapila ukulele jam session. From noon- 3 p.m. Oct. 14, there will be an ukulele-building demonstration for those who want to explore the process of handcrafting a stringed instrument. For more information about this portion of the exhibit, visit BigIslandUkuleleGuild.org or contact Michael Purdue at 339-5399 or mlpatlarge@gmail.com.
Orwig will exhibit his recent collection of 30 pastel drawings and paintings that explore his curious interest with telephone poles. He has numerous works purchased by the Hawaii State Foundation on Culture and the Arts and has works in the permanent collection of the Hawaii State Art Museum.
His paintings and drawings also are in private and corporate collections in Hawaii, the mainland and Europe, as well as works in the permanent collection of the City and County of Honolulu. Orwig had a one-man show installed at the East Hawaii Cultural Center in 2016.
As the 3-D invited artist, Freedman will have his most recent ceramic sculptures on display. Freedman has created commissions for public space and exhibited in galleries and museums throughout the world since 1975.
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 The center normally is closed Saturday, Sunday and state holidays. For October’s exhibit, Wailoa Center will be open noon-3 p.m. Saturdays for special events.
For additional information, call 933-0416, email wailoa@yahoo.com or visit wailoacenter.com.
