Volcano Art Center is proud to present “Return of Alala: Restoring The Voice Of Hawaii’s Native Forests,” a statewide multimedia art competition featuring Hawaii’s endemic Alala. The exhibit will be on display at Volcano Art Center Gallery in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park through Oct. 9. Proceeds from the exhibition support the Hawaii Endangered Bird Conservation Program and celebrate the reintroduction of the alala into Hawaii’s forests this November. The exhibit is open to the public and free of charge although park entrance fees apply.
“Volcano Art Center wishes to express a sincere thank you to the participating artists who submitted work,” Gallery Manager Emily C. Weiss said in a press release. “The juried show is a terrific representation of this unique species, in many different media, by over 40 different artists.”
Paul Banko, Ph.D., Clifford Hague and Michelle Schwengel-Regala had the difficult task of choosing 43 artworks from the over 80 entries submitted to include in the exhibit.
The Best of Show award was granted to Reyn Ojiri for his oil painting titled alala No. 2. Two first place awards were also presented in the professional category. First place in the 2-D category went to John D. Dawson for his watercolor titled Into The Forest Again, and the first place award in 3-D was awarded to Elizabeth Miller for her Alala Caws and Coaxes Her World Awake, a hand-tooled aluminum and india ink wall sculpture.
Three awards were also granted in the hobbyist division. First place to Maria Macias, second place to Lisa Komarczyk and third place to Alice Hostica.
The exhibit can be viewed at Volcano Art Center Gallery daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. until Oct. 9. ■