Downtown Art Center First Friday Presents - Celebrates The Centennial Legacy Of Artists John And Kate Kelly

Community website by MBC/Ernest Abrams. Call 808-739-9797 for advertising/sponsorship. Community website by MBC/Ernest Abrams. Call 808-739-9797 for advertising/sponsorship.

First Friday Hawaii
Event Calendar Item
Downtown Art Center First Friday Presents - Celebrates The Centennial Legacy Of Artists John And Kate Kelly
Tweet
Date: Friday - 8/4/2023
Time: 5:30 to 8 p.m
Location:
Downtown Art Center
1040 A Nuuana Avenue
Honolulu, Hawaii 96717

View Map
Cost:

‘100 YEARS IN HAWAII’ EXHIBITION AT DOWNTOWN ART CENTER, ON VIEW AUGUST 1-13, CELEBRATES THE CENTENNIAL LEGACY OF ARTISTS JOHN AND KATE KELLY

An historic centennial exhibition, ‘100 Years in Hawaiʻi,’ presented by the John and Kate Kelly Estate at Downtown Art Center celebrates the legacy of renowned artist John Melville Kelly (1878-1962), a master printmaker, and his wife Kate Harland Kelly (1882-1964), an accomplished sculptor and important cultural photographer of the Native Hawaiian people from the 1930s to 1950s.

The exhibition of over 40 images and sculptures will feature the premiere of several of John Kelly’s original etchings and a few rare paintings, including an oil piece and a watercolor that have never been displayed, as well as Kate Kelly’s photographs, which are being displayed for the first time. Offset prints from a 1943 collection, giclée prints, and all photographs by Kate Kelly will be for sale.

The exhibition is free and open to the public, and will be on view in the Courtyard Gallery at Downtown Art Center, 1041 Nuʻuanu Ave., Second Floor, during regular gallery hours, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday, from August 1 to 13, 2023.

An Opening Reception will be held on First Friday, August 4, from 5:30 - 8 p.m.

John and Kate Kelly lived outside of Honolulu in an active Native Hawaiian fishing community, where they became good friends with many of their neighbors. Kate’s sculptures and photographs skillfully capture Hawaiian lives and culture in the rapidly changing world of Hawaiʻi 100 years ago, at a time when Native Hawaiians were losing their rightful lands, as well as access to traditional fishing grounds and taro loʻi (fields), due to hotel development in Waikīkī and military expansion.

John, perhaps best known internationally for his lush, vivid color aquatints and Matson steam liner menu illustrations of Native Hawaiians, memorialized their friends and acquaintances through his etchings and paintings. In 1926, John helped found Honolulu Printmakers, one of the oldest printmaking organizations in the country. He was also a member of the California Printmakers, the Chicago Printmakers, and Prairie Printmakers Association. His etchings won numerous awards at printmaking shows throughout the United States, and are held at many museums, including the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., the Fogg Museum at Harvard, and the DeYoung Museum in San Francisco.

For more information or to find out the latest events and exhibitions at Downtown Art Center, visit downtownarthi.org.

About the Downtown Art Center (DAC):
Located in the Chinatown Gateway Plaza building at 1041 Nuʻuanu Ave., Second Floor, the nonprofit Downtown Art Center is an evolving gallery and workshop space for Oʻahu's arts scene. DAC strives to become a thriving center for the arts by providing display space for local artists and art organizations, workshop classrooms, performances, and more. Support DAC and help it grow at donorbox.org/downtownartcenter!

Parking for DAC is located at nearby municipal parking lots (onsite at Chinatown Gateway Plaza, parking entrance off Bethel Street) or at Mark's Garage (entrance at 22 S. Pauahi St.). DAC is easily accessible by public transit as well; get directions, routes and timetables at www.thebus.org.
 

Questions? Ready for an appointment?

Like Our Facebook

First Friday Hawaii Event Calendar Item

Downtown Art Center First Friday Presents - Celebrates The Centennial Legacy Of Artists John And Kate Kelly

First Friday Hawaii
Event Calendar Item