On view at Wailoa Center

Opening Reception & Awards Presentation: Saturday February 21st at 11:00 AM, at Wailoa Center, 200 Pio Pio Street, Hilo

 

The Young at Art annual juried exhibition celebrates National Youth Art Month by recognizing the excellence, creativity and originality of K-12 students on Hawai’i Island in all public, charter, and private schools, as well as home-schooled students.

This yearʻs theme is SHIFT, an open prompt to help students reflect on changes. Whether they are dramatic or subtle, visible or invisible, by choice or against our will, students were encouraged to explore these transitions and our reactions to them. The exhibition features a variety of perspectives on the theme. Within the artworks, SHIFT is approached literally, figuratively, and explored at various levels of meaning to the student artists.

 

For the first time in the exhibition's history, Young At Art is presented by East Hawai‘i Cultural Center in collaboration with Wailoa Center, one of the show’s original display locations. After being spread across the island for the past few years, we are bringing the exhibition back to a central location, where it can be viewed in its entirety. 

 

Mahalo to our community for the support that you have shown Young At Art over the last 38 years!

 

Special Mahalo To:

 

 Jessica Brand. Jessica is a freelance contemporary artist who lives in Mountain View Hawai’i.  Born in Michigan she was raised in and around beautiful pine forests before moving to Florida where she discovered the love of surfing and the sea.  Jessica then moved to Hawai’i with her family in 1999, and continues to express her love of the natural world through her art.  Her symbolic style expresses the connectivity between nature and humanity and evokes a sense of surreal whimsy.  Brand’s pieces often depict how she’s feeling, calling her work “Diary Pieces”.  

 

Her art can be seen in multiple media forms such as pencil, ink, acrylic, oil, and ceramics which feature delicate figures, often women who represent an emotional allegory.  Along with feminine figures she intertwines aspects of nature such as plants, animals, landscapes and more.

 

As a young girl Jessica attended Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp, and received multiple art awards in school.  She received a Liberal Arts degree from Hawai’i Community College, and went on to earn her Bachelor of Art degree from the University of Hawai’i at Hilo where she gained more accolades for her work and was featured in Kanilehua college magazine.

 

Brand’s work is showcased in several local galleries such as The Exhibit Gallery in Hilo Hawai’i.  Jessica currently works from home as a freelance artist. She is also known to travel around the Big Island creating murals.  She is available for commissions; for more information email her at: [email protected].

@jessicaaurorabrand

 

 Kailah Ogawa. Kailah is an illustrator and graphic designer from Hilo, Hawaiʻi. After working with fashion and creative agencies across the West Coast for over a decade, her studio is now based in her hometown. Her practice spans freelance illustration, branding, and independent creative work, blending digital illustration with strong design principles. She currently works as part of Welcome Stranger, a creative agency based on Oʻahu, and has been commissioned by clients including Google, YouTube, Hawaiian Airlines, HPM, UCLA, Patagonia, and Hydro Flask.

@kailahogawa 

 

 Ash Huang. Ash (she/her) is a ceramicist and educator from O'ahu, Hawai'i. She received her bachelor of fine arts degree in sculpture from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa and masters of fine arts from Emily Carr University of Art & Design.

@ashleyhuangceramics