HOLUALOA FOUNDATION FOR ARTS AND CULTURE

We aim to make rich art experiences accessible to all; including art instruction in local elementary schools, collaborations with community organizations (including those serving the elderly and disabled), and a wide variety of classes, workshops, open-studio, exhibits, and events on site at the Donkey Mill Art Center.

As an organization, we constantly strive to reach a wider number of students and provide programming that is accessible, and to assess the need and demand for our programs within our community as well as with visitors.

Our primary strategy is the promotion, cultivation, and nurturing of year-round programming for students of all ages and abilities at our facility in Holualoa, Hawaii. We offer a wide variety of classes, demonstrations, artist talks, and workshops across many disciplines. In 2017, we offered 79 programs for adults and 30 programs for children. Our primary mediums are ceramics, drawing, fibers, hawaiian craft and culture, metalsmithing, mixed media, painting, photography, and printmaking.

Collaborating with other organizations is a vital aspect of our work without which we would be unable to reach underserved populations and those in the greatest need of our programs. Our longest-running collaboration is with Holualoa Elementary School, where we have gradually expanded our programs over the past fifteen years, now providing in-school art education year round for students in K-4 grades and a fifth grade art experience that incorporates collaboration with Holualoa Galleries each year. Other successful partnerships enable many of our core programs and provide us with the opportunity to fulfill our mission of art education for people of all ages and abilities.

The Donkey Mill has a solid track record of delivering the programs in the budget on an annual basis, including 15+ years of in-school programming at Holualoa Elementary. Many of the teaching artists and assistants that comprise the youth program faculty have been teaching with the Donkey Mill for 5+ years. Our experienced staff and faculty work closely together in developing curriculum with modest art supplies and materials needs by leveraging available resources and in-kind donations whenever possible.

As we approach our 25th anniversary year in 2020, we are currently sustaining our extensive programs with an efficient and capable staff of five, while teaching artists work on a contract basis. Our team of staff provide administrative support, program strategy, marketing, and fundraising, allowing teaching artists to focus their energy and skill on the development of robust programming customized to programmatic themes and student needs.

To better integrate a wider range of community voices and truly represent our community, we are in the midst of forming program area huis to advise and guide our programming in a variety of mediums, pulling together volunteers, artists, teachers, and students in an advisory role.

The Holualoa Foundation for Arts and Culture has successfully provided art education to all, gradually increasing program offerings and mediums at a sustainable rate of growth for 24 years as of 2019. From 3 formal programs in our first year to over 100 programs per year now. We have provided in-school art education for over 15 years, and have had a thriving scholarship program for keiki (children) for over 5 years. Over the past 3 years we have worked to build successful collaborations with local organizations serving populations in need, and to provide art education experiences through these partnerships.

We look forward to expanding community engagement through our programmatic advisory huis, to expanding our scholarship programs for accessibility, and to partnering with additional organizations to enrich the lives through the arts.