Maui Arts &Cultural Center is pleased to announce the fifth triennial exhibition, Schaefer Portrait Challenge 2015. e juried statewide exhibition runs Jan. 13 through March 22 in Schaefer International Gallery.
The exhibit features the work of artists from Oahu, Maui, Kauai and Hawaii, and portrait subjects who live and work in Hawaii and have a significant connection to the artist. The 2015 Challenge includes 66 works from 64 individual artists.
Hawaii Island artists participating in the challenge are Rose Adare, Ilana Moidel Alevedo, Tobias Brill, Christine Chouinard, Ingrid Fregeau, William Patrick McKnight, Jacob Arthur Medina, Gerald Murai, Mydock, Joseph Okonek, Valentino Quijano and David William Terry.
The artists whose works were selected for the show were given the task of transposing the human likeness to interpret each sitter through paint, pastel, graphite, watercolor, stone, clay, wood or mixed media into the final result of a finished portrait.
The jurors then had the difficult task of reviewing works submitted on each island and selecting the final portraits from among hundreds of entries throughout the state. Three artists were the jurors for the 2015 Challenge: Esther Shimazu of Oahu, Keith Tallett of Hawaii Island and Sidney Yee of Maui.
The winner of the $15,000 Jurors’ Choice Award will be announced at the opening reception Jan. 11 in Schaefer International Gallery. The $5,000 Marian Freeman People’s Choice Award gives the public an opportunity to participate in the exhibit. Visitors can cast a ballot for their favorite piece through March 9, and that winner will be announced at 5 p.m. March 15 in the gallery.
Schaefer International Gallery is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday and before Castle Theater shows. Admission is free. For more information, contact gallery director Neida Bangerter at 243-4288 or neida@mauiarts.org.