For many Hawaiian musicians and singers, performing is both their passion and their livelihood. So, when there's not enough places to perform locally, or the pay is too low, they have to improvise. Some work day jobs and perform at…
At First, It doesn’t look like much. I’ve just parked in the driveway of Shangri La, which was once the home of Doris Duke, and I’m wondering where the house is. I see a small, plain, white windowless building nearby,…
Savvy business experts offer advice to emerging designers on going global Talk about a left-brain, right-brain challenge. Local fashion entrepreneurs need to be innovative and continually create new looks that attract people’s attention. But, if their skills end there, they…
Designers across Hawaii and around the world are reinventing the aloha shirt with both new and retro styles, for business and pau hana AFTER A PERIOD when many fashion-conscious young men in Hawaii looked askance at the aloha shirt, it…
FOR 30 YEARS, Darren Ho has created art he describes as “simply done,” with less detail than a wood or bronze sculpture, and with a lifespan of about four hours. Using a chainsaw and a few other tools, he turns…
KELLI CRUZ IS a “doer.” She learned early on how to build things from her father, who was a carpenter, and create Hawaiian music from her mother, who was a hula dancer. “When I was 18, I picked up a guitar…
Since the ukulele arrived in the Islands late in the 19th century, it has been a symbol of Hawaii and the aloha spirit. That aloha is shared widely and generously by ukulele makers, performers and teachers, both locally and around…
A walk around Honolulu nowadays can seem like a visit to an open-air art gallery. Murals are reinvigorating communities with vibrant colors while celebrating Hawaii’s natural beauty, culture and people. Mark Brown, an artist and art teacher at the UH,…
The home page of www.ulukau.org has few words in English, but a click on “English Text” reveals this translation: Ulukau: “In the same way that unexplained supernatural interpretive powers can be divinely given to a person, so knowledge and understanding can…
The state’s art program spent time in the spotlight last year after state Rep. Faye Hanohano got upset about the art being installed in her legislative office. Now that the furor has dissipated, it’s worth considering how state- owned art ends up…
Roberta Oaks, Fashion Designer and Retailer Oaks did not start out to be a fashion designer. She majored in photography and art history, and then worked in restaurants for 10 years. Not until her late 20s did it hit her:…
Matt Luttrell and business partner Chance Carpenter have added a new publication to the crowded field of surf magazines. The title, nude, is sure to turn heads. “It is supposed to be provocative,” says Luttrell, the editor. He says the name also reflects that the…
But hula does have an effect on the economy, even though its appeal to participants is usually not commercial There are many reasons to launch a hula halau, but getting rich has never been one of them. That is just as true…
What was formerly a storage area under Shirokiya has become Vintage Cave Honolulu, a venue for food and fine art. Membership in the “private society” ranges from $500,000 for charter members to $50,000 for special members; member benefits include discounts…
Henry Kapono Kaaihue was already a well-known performer, with decades on stage and dozens of best selling CDs, when he met his wife-to-be, Lezlee. She was a successful, trained-on-the-job stockbroker and he was playing at the Pier Bar at Aloha Tower…
Name: Paulette Kahalepuna Job: Feather artist and owner of Na Lima Mili Hulu Noeau, a store where Hawaiian feather work is taught, and supplies and finished pieces are sold. Experience: 21 years. START: In 1991, Kahalepuna helped her feather-expert mother Mary Lou and father…
When Denyse Ray opened her manufacturing and retail operation in Kakaako in April, she opened a floodgate. Her original plan was to create a place where her company, Ease Collection, and its staff of 20 would make the company’s surgical…
With another Hawaiian Renaissance on the horizon, two local media companies are collaborating on a new forum to report on and explain coming events. The Kalaimoku Group and aio are launching Mana, a magazine designed for Native Hawaiians and others…
The 15 artists at the Artists’ Cooperative Gallery at Ward Center were astonished: December 2010 sales increased by 168 percent over the previous December and broke all their records. While stores were closing around them, the gallery was booming. Their…
Even during the worst economy in decades, guests at the Kaanapali Beach Hotel can still enjoy a free hula show seven nights a week. There are also free lei-making and hula classes. And five times a day, staff gather in…
Greg Lee, CEO of 1st Look Exteriors, combined his two greatest passions — plants and art — to create a niche business that’s so unique he’s the only licensed contractor of his kind in the state. 1st Look Exteriors designs…
If you are in downtown Honolulu at lunchtime, consider feeding your mind as well as your body. The downtown annex of the Contemporary Museum is in the soaring First Hawaiian Center at 999 Bishop St. The gallery is upstairs from…
4 p.m., Thursday Miss Hawaii Building McCully/moiliili Photography by Rae Huo >> Kaimuki native Estria Miyashiro, bottom right, who invented the stencil tip for wall painting, has taken graffiti art to new heights as a commercial painter and graphic artist…
Finding a way to preserve culture Hui Ku Maoli Ola, a native plant nursery nestled deep in Haiku Valley on Windward Oahu, is a kind of island unto itself. Except for the steepest, most inaccessible parts of the Koolau Mountains,…