Downtown Art Center Presents - Main Gallery - Wayne Levin: A Life in Retrospective & Under the Influences: Glass Work by Stephanie Ross & Hugh Jenkins Courtyard Gallery - The Nature Conservancy Presents: How Nature Restores Me

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First Friday Hawaii
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Downtown Art Center Presents - Main Gallery - Wayne Levin: A Life in Retrospective & Under the Influences: Glass Work by Stephanie Ross & Hugh Jenkins Courtyard Gallery - The Nature Conservancy Presents: How Nature Restores Me
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Date: Friday - 8/2/2024
Time: 5:30 to 8 p.m
Location:
Downtown Art Center
1040 A Nuuana Avenue
Honolulu, Hawaii 96717

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Current Main Gallery Exhibition

Wayne Levin: A Life in Retrospective  Under the Influences: Glass Work by Stephanie Ross & Hugh Jenkins On View in the Main Gallery July 25 - August 30
Artists’ Reception: Friday, July 26 from 5:30 - 8 p.m.
First Friday Reception: Friday, August 2 from 5:30 - 8 p.m. with special guest musicians from Maderia, Portugal
This exhibition showcases a life of incredible artwork by Hawaii underwater photography legend Wayne Levin, accompanied by the exquisite, nature-inspired glass artwork of artists Hugh Jenkins and Stephanie Ross of Big Island Glass Gallery.
About Wayne Levin:
While best known as a master of monochrome underwater still photography, Wayne Levin's long and colorful career has found him working in the mountains of the Hawaiian Islands, along the contested border between the United States and Mexico, and even on the packed red clay roads of Alabama among the marchers following the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr to Selma in 1965. These visual highlights will be among the notable photographs on display in "Wayne Levin: A Life in Photography Retrospective 1965-2024." This will be Wayne Levin's first retrospective exhibit.
Born in Los Angeles in 1945, Levin received a Brownie camera for his 12th birthday, sparking a lifelong passion for photography. After studying at Brooks Institute of Photography and participating in the Civil Rights movement, Levin served in the Navy, including seven months off the coast of Vietnam. He traveled the world, documenting his journeys through photography, which led to his first solo exhibitions. In the early 1970s, he worked with renowned photographers in Hawaiʻi before starting his own commercial business, and later earned a BFA from the San Francisco Art Institute and an MFA from Pratt Institute. A few of Levin’s notable projects include documenting the Leprosy Settlement at Kalaupapa, Molokai, and creating underwater photographic studies, which are perhaps his best-known body of work. His photography has been exhibited internationally and featured in several books. He continues to focus on underwater photography, capturing the beauty and fragility of marine life and the ocean environment.

About Hugh Jenkins and Stephanie Ross:
"Under the Influences" showcases a selection of significant glass works created by Hugh Jenkins and Stephanie Ross, spanning the years from 1999-2024. The pieces in this exhibition offer a range of approaches and styles inspired by the colors and shapes found in nature, with landscapes unique to the Big Island where Jenkins and Ross established their glassblowing studio in 1999 and later founded Big Island Glass and Art Gallery.
Jenkins, a prominent figure in Hawaiʻi's art community for over 50 years, began his journey with glassblowing at The Foundry in Honolulu. He later established and taught in the glassblowing program at Punahou School, influencing generations of glass artists. Ross, with degrees in fine art and arts education, taught at Holy Nativity Elementary School before moving to the Big Island. Their artistic collaborations began in 1996, blending Jenkins’ mastery of glass techniques with Ross’ expertise in color. Together, they created a unique body of work, which they call “natural forms with environmental impressions,” inspired by the diverse ecosystems, cultural influences, and natural phenomena of Hawaiʻi’s lava flows, water, and weather.
This exhibition is generously sponsored by MODEA.

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Current Courtyard Gallery Exhibition

The Nature Conservancy Presents: How Nature Restores Me
On View August 1-31, 2024
Exhibition Events:

•   Opening Reception: First Friday, August 2 from 5:30 - 8 p.m. (Free and open to the public) SPEAKER SERIES  Join us for a free speaker series at Downtown Art Center throughout August, delving into The Nature Conservancy’s work to conserve the lands and waters on which all life depends in Hawaiʻi and at Palmyra Atoll: 

•   "How Nature Restores Us and the Communities We Work With On Maui and Lānaʻi" Keoki Kanakaokai, Maui Natural Resource Manager Sun, Aug 4th | 12 p.m. 

•   "ʻĀina Reflections on Collaboration at Heʻeia" ʻAlohi Nakachi, Oʻahu Marine Program Manager Wed, Aug 7th | 12 p.m. 

•   "The Importance of Preserving Hawaiʻi's Native Forests" JC Watson, Terrestrial Conservation Director Sat, Aug 17th | 11 a.m. 

•   "Partnering with Nature at Palmyra Atoll" Dana Sabine, Palmyra Science Coordinator Sat, Aug 17th | 12 p.m. 

•   "Exploring the Concept of ʻĀina and Aloha ʻĀina" Sam ʻOhu Gon III, Senior Scientist and Cultural Advisor Sat, Aug 24th | 12 p.m. 

•   Closing Reception: "Hawaiʻi's Vanishing Forest Birds" Ulalia Woodside Lee, Executive Director Sat, Aug 31st | 4 p.m. Lee’s talk begins at 4 p.m. sharp, with a Closing Reception from 4-7 p.m., with refreshments and the washing away of a vanishing mural of an endangered Hawaiian ‘akikiki bird by artist Jana Ireijo to showcase TNC’s “Hawaiʻi’s Vanishing Forest Birds” work. 
Downtown Art Center and The Nature Conservancy, Hawaiʻi and Palmyra, are pleased to present “How Nature Restores Me,” featuring a diverse collection of artwork in different media, including ceramics, kapa, wood carvings, charcoal drawings, paintings, and photography. The exhibition aims to showcase the significant link between art and nature. These works highlight TNC’s staff, trustees and their ʻohana, who express their connection to nature through art.
“This exhibit is a unique way to bring a critical message about the importance of nature to our daily lives,” says TNC Executive Director Ulalia Woodside Lee. “We have a kuleana to care for the natural world in reciprocity for all we receive from nature, which sustains us.”
During the month, TNC staff will give special presentations to talk about their work across the islands, and artist Jana Ireijo will paint a “vanishing mural” of an endangered Hawaiian forest bird that will be washed away during a special closing reception at which TNC Executive Director Ulalia Woodside Lee will talk about the cultural and natural significance of these birds and the organization’s work to help save them.

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About the Downtown Art Center (DAC):
Located in the Chinatown Gateway Plaza building at 1041 Nuʻuanu Ave., Second Floor, the nonprofit Downtown Art Center is an evolving gallery and workshop space for Oʻahu's arts scene. DAC strives to become a thriving center for the arts by providing display space for local artists and art organizations, workshop classrooms, performances, and more. Support DAC and help it grow at donorbox.org/downtownartcenter!

Parking for DAC is located at nearby municipal parking lots (onsite at Chinatown Gateway Plaza, parking entrance off Bethel Street) or at Mark's Garage (entrance at 22 S. Pauahi St.). DAC is easily accessible by public transit as well; get directions, routes and timetables at www.thebus.org.
 

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First Friday Hawaii Event Calendar Item

Downtown Art Center Presents - Main Gallery - Wayne Levin: A Life in Retrospective & Under the Influences: Glass Work by Stephanie Ross & Hugh Jenkins Courtyard Gallery - The Nature Conservancy Presents: How Nature Restores Me

First Friday Hawaii
Event Calendar Item