Show Preview | Maui Plein Air - Southwest Art Magazine

Maui, HI
Various locations, February 16-24

Michael Clements, Fire and Ice, pastel, 12 x 24.

This story was featured in the February 2019 issue of Southwest Art magazine. Get the Southwest Art February 2019 print issue or digital download now–then subscribe to Southwest Art and never miss another story.

BRIGHT AND EARLY on Saturday, February 16, just as the sun casts its first rosy rays upon Maui, two dozen nationally acclaimed landscape artists fan out around the glittering Lahaina Harbor to complete their first plein-air creations in a weeklong series depicting the island’s multicultural charm and scenic beauty. The paint-out marks the start of the 14th annual Maui Plein Air Painting Invitational, and this year’s schedule is more robust than ever, with three paint-outs, seven art sales, and multiple ticketed collectors’ receptions, all presented by the nonprofit Maui Arts League. “Before every one of our art sales, we’re having a little mingling event for collectors,” says event coordinator Katherine Kama‘ema‘e Smith. “I think people like the idea that they can pick and choose which party they want to go to, meet the artists, and have an advance peek of artworks.

: Suzie Baker, The Sandal Maker, oil, 16 x 20.

: Jennifer Diehl, Light Patterns, oil, 20 x 16.

: Jim McVicker, Maui Light, oil, 16 x 20.

Beginning with the Lahaina Harbor kickoff, the public also has three unique opportunities throughout the week to interact with the artists as they create paintings en plein air in less than four hours. Returning to the event this year are such artists as Suzie Baker, Hiu Lai Chong, Leon Holmes, John Poon, and Aaron Schuerr. They are joined by Hawaii-based artists Mark Brown, Saim Caglayan, Carleton, Mike Carroll, and Michael Clements, all of whom showcase their intimate familiarity with the local landscape. And bringing fresh perspectives to the group are first-time participants like Josh Clare, Shelby Keefe, and Michele Usibelli. Highlighting their signature styles and mediums, the works produced by this talented group take viewers on a virtual tour of famous and hidden gems alike across the 728-square-mile island. (Works pictured here received awards at last year’s event.)

: Lori Putnam, The Final Chapter, oil, 14 x 18.

: Jennifer Diehl, Light Patterns, oil, 20 x 16.

: Greg LaRock, Dirty Deeds, oil, 20 x 16.

The crowning affair of the week is Art to Heart, a ticketed gala and art sale held on Friday, February 22, at 6 p.m., in the spacious Royal Lahaina Resort Ballroom. Two painting workshops, a few discussion panels, one art-history lecture, and a special youth paint-out round out this nine-day celebration of fine art. According to Smith, the missions of the lively invitational are manifold. Those goals include raising funds to help the Maui Arts League build a fine-art museum on West Maui, encouraging an enthusiasm for art among the local youth, and attracting collectors from near and far to the island’s abundant fine-art offerings.

: Ronaldo Macedo, Cruise Island Style, oil, 12 x 16.

: Larry Moore, Sweet Dreams, oil, 20 x 24.

: Mary Pettis, Birds in Paradise, oil, 16 x 20.

At last year’s gala, Smith remembers a guest who purchased her very first piece of original art. “The experience for her was very exciting, and she wrote us a letter later thanking us for the experience,” she says. “We don’t know all the stories,” adds Smith, alluding to the variety of reasons art lovers snatch up works at the event each year. There is one common thread, however, that makes all the artworks special, she notes. “It’s aloha. People recognize it when they come to the Hawaiian Islands. The belief system here is simple, but it’s eternal and profound, and that is that the sky, the mountains, the sea, and the people are all one. When people see the paintings at our event, they respond to the high quality of the work, but they also respond to the subject matter, and the subject matter carries within it that sense of aloha.”

After the Friday-evening gala, award-winning paintings and other fresh plein-air works remain on view in the ballroom through the weekend. —Kim Agricola

contact information
www.celebrateartonmaui.org