Hawaii’s Art Scene – A Plentiful Palette

In a place as beautiful and as colorful as Hawaii, there’s bound to be a thriving art community and that is the case indeed. You’ll find art and craft galleries through out the islands. Here’s just a sampling of where you’ll find a concentration of galleries and art nights across the islands.

Kauai

The small town of Hanapepe hosts Friday Art Night each week. There’s live music and galleries stay open until 9pm.

Maui
The towns of Lahaina and Paia have quite a few art galleries. Lahaina holds an Art Night every Friday between 7pm and 10pm. In the upcountry town of Makawao, there’s the Hui No’eau Visual Arts Center that’s open weekdays from 10am to 4pm.

Lanai
Lanai City, the uncity, has quite a few arts and crafts shops.

Big Island
Of course Hilo and Kona have art shops and galleries. A couple of small towns that have quite a few interesting small shops are in Hawi on the North Kohala coast and the hilly coffee town of Holualoa perched above Kona. (Don’t go to Holualoa on a Sunday as everything is closed, I know because I tried.)

Oahu
The North Shore town of Haleiwa has quite a few art galleries and shops. Chinatown may be considered the heart of Oahu’s art scene. This lively area hosts a First Friday celebration each month. Here’s a listing and map

of the Chinatown art galleries. Here’s a video highlighting Chinatown.

Do you have an artistic treasure from Hawaii? Where did you find it? Where are your favorite Hawaii art scenes?