Hawaiian Art Projects

For my Art Exploration Class via my local school district, I have created a Power Point Presentation. Included in this presentation are Critical Thinking Questions such as: What types of Natural Resources do we use to create art? Do you think that the Hawaiians made good use of their Natural Resources? How do our cultures compare? Art Projects include: How to make a Hawaiian Lei, How to create a sculpture spiritual totem, and How to make a Floral Fabric Print Mural. Encourage your students to read up on Hawaiian Myths and Legends, learn about the great Hawaiian leaders and archeological temples, and learn about the natural resources that are native to Hawaii. This can be a great cultural and art experience for your students. Aloha (means Hello, Good-bye, and Love)!

King Tut Exhibit in Denver

On July 18th, 2010, a group of my friends and family went together to see the King Tut Exhibit at the Denver Art Museum. Because this is a special exhibit put together by the National Geographic and the Cultural Curators from Egypt, I cannot display the art work via my blog post due to copyright laws. I can say that one should absolutely take their art students to this exhibit. You can also have students participate in projects via online lesson plans through the Denver Art Museum. For my Art Exploration Class via our local School District, I created a Power Point Presentation for our school district in regards to the King Tut Exhibit. It has lesson plans included for projects for students such as: How to create a King Tut Mask, How to Make a Sarcophagus/container and How to create an Egyptian Frieze. Critical Thinking Questions might include: Why did the Egyptians believe that a pharaoh should bring objects with them? Who found the King Tut artifacts? What did the boat represent in the afterlife? One can view some of the artifacts by going to: http://www.deverartmuseum.org This is a field trip tour that art teachers must not miss!

USS Arizona Memorial

Art is all around us and one can see that this is true when visiting the USS Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor, Honolulu, Hawaii. I am showing this Memorial because I want people to understand that art surrounds us everyday in big and small ways. I went to visit the Memorial because it had significance in my life. I had 6 uncles and my father who served in the Pacific Fleet during WWII. A truly amazing thing for my grandmother to sacrifice 7 sons! Fortunately, for my family, all 7 brothers survived the War. Unfortunately, many families made the ultimate sacrifice and one cannot help but be touched by the experience of viewing this Memorial Site. To see Alfred Preis's bridge design over the remains of the USS Arizona is moving! While at the Memorial, a Veteran Survivor was there to greet a group of Japanese students who brought Birds of Paradise Flowers to lay at the Memorial as a sign of honor, respect and peace. It was a touching experience as one could see how pleased the Veteran was at this gesture. One can also see the names of the deceased soldiers of the USS Arizona in the background. This Memorial is well worth the experience aesthetically and emotionally! Please visit the following links: http://www.nps.gov/valr/ or http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS.Arizona_Memorial

Art at the Hawaiian Village Resort

From July 27th-30th, our final leg of the journey took place in Honolulu, Hawaii. Due to my husband's business conference, we stayed at the Hawaiian Village Resort. This was not a typical hotel. It caters to the wealthy, but Hawaii has been hit hard by the recession and even big resorts were giving incentives to tourists to stay there. The entire village is filled with bronze sculptures, wood relief carvings, tapestries, fountains, etc. They even had live flamingos and South African penguins in their lagoons. The majority of sculptures are by Kim Duffet and the structure of one of the Hotel Towers is the largest mural called the Rainbow Mural by Millard Sheets. Here are just a few examples of what I saw while visiting there.

Pu'ukohola Heiau Historic Site

On the 27th of July, we took our last tour of the Big Island near Kawaihae. This is the spot where Kamehameha built a 3 story temple due to a prophecy that it would help him become a great leader. He was a great leader because in the late 1700's-1800's, he went to war with the other Hawaiian Islands, won, and then united the Islands. He built the temple near his birthplace and also next to another ancient Heiau or Temple. The first temple was where human sacrifice was performed. Kamehameha did away with human sacrifice once he united the Islands. In these photos you can see the temple and war weapons. It's very impressive! To find out more info, visit the National Park Sites. We had a great time on the Big Island of Hawaii. We later left for Honolulu, Hawaii, where my next journal entries begin.

July 26th Art Tour

On Monday, July 26th, we decided to go up to the north coast of the Big Island to find the original Kamehameha statue. We drove along and found ourselves in the cattle ranch region of the island. We stopped for lunch at Merriman's Restaurant where I spotted some beautiful Floral Wall Hangings there by local artist, Kristi Kranz. You can see her work at http://kristikranz.com/ Also, we saw the Kamehameha Statue near Hawi, Hawaii. The orginal had been shipwrecked. Another statue was commissioned and sent to Honolulu, but the original was found and restored in Hawi. In addition we viewed a spectacular beach a little further east and north of Hawi and viewed a Hawaiian sunset. Spectacular!

On Sunday, the 25th of July, we decided to drive to the windward side of the Big Island. We were able to see a local Hawaiian make baskets near Akaka Falls, tour a shop in Hilo, Hawaii, and see Volcano National Park. There are a couple of artists who feature Volcano inspired art work such as: Dietrich Varez who creates woodblock images of ancient Hawaiian gods and goddesses or images of the Volcano goddess Pele by Herb Kawainui Kane. See: www.volcanoartcenter.org or www.herbKanestudio.com/gallery/

Hawaiian Art

While traveling to Honolulu, Hawaii for my husband's meteorological conference, I got to tag along and I was able to learn a lot about the Hawaiian culture and some of the local art there. We also took a small vacation to the Big Island before the conference. On our first day, the 24th, we went to see the Petroglyphs on the Big Island. We also saw the Painted Church near Kona, Hawaii where missionaries explained the Bible creation story to local Hawaiians. In addition, we toured the City of Refuge where Hawaiian Chief's bones were buried and old warriors could rest from battle.

Other Henry Moore Sculptures

This Large Reclined Figure is the largest sculpture and it is found in the center of the ornamental grasses of the Denver Botanical Gardens.

Critical Thinking: Why would Henry Moore choose a white sculpture instead of a bronze patina coloring or other medium colors? Think about the original sculpture site in your thought process.

Art Explorations at the Denver Botanical Gardens

Henry Moore, Oval with Points, located near the Schlessman Plaza & Fragramce Gardem (left side) and Henry Moore, Knife Edge Two Piece, near the Flakenberg Herb Garden (right side).

On July 6, 2010, I joined my art colleagues from our local school district (PSD) on an art exploration of Henry Moore's (British sculptor 1898-1986) monumental sculptures. These sculptures were created for the outdoors. This particular sculpture Three Piece Reclining Figure: Draped is located near the Boettcher Memorial Tropical Conservatory.

Critical Thinking: What other famous artworks may have inspired Henry Moore in creating this piece. Please list some examples. Why do you think he has chosen cast metal pieces instead of other medium such as stone?

Elementary Assignment: With found objects such as TP rolls, foam cones, styrofoam balls, sticks, etc. and glue, assemble the objects to form an animal shape.

Secondary Assignment: Using modeling clay or beeswax, form an abstract 3-Dimensional shape of either an animal, a person, or a tool. Use basic shapes such as a sphere, cone, and cylinder to help you create your form.

Advanced Assignment: Use soapstone, pine wood, or a bar of soap and carving tools. Shape the material to form an abstract 3-dimensional animal, persona or tool. You may add texture to the form with the carving tools.