Hilo Art Museum facts for kids

The Hilo Art Museum (HAM) was a special place in Hilo, Hawaii, that aimed to share art with everyone. It officially started as a non-profit group on April 16, 2007. The museum was part of larger museum groups, like the Western Museums Association. In 2007, the museum opened its Education Centers. These centers offered fun art classes, workshops, and special art shows. Sadly, its main location closed in December 2007, and only a few classes continued in a different space in 2008.

Amazing Art Collections

The Hilo Art Museum had a collection of original artworks by many famous artists. Imagine seeing pieces by Pablo Picasso, Keith Haring, and Salvador Dalí! They also had art by Huc-Mazelet Luquiens, Jack Sudlow, and other talented artists like Stephen Freedman, Emily DuBois, and Suzanne Dix.

Teaching Art to Island Kids

The museum also had a special collection just for teaching. It included life-sized copies of famous paintings by master artists. This was super important because many kids and families on the island don't get to travel far. This collection helped them learn about amazing art from museums all over the world, even though they were in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.

Museum's Story

The idea for the Hilo Art Museum began in April 2007. An artist named Ted Coombs, who lived on the island, dreamed of having a general art museum in Hilo. Hilo is the second-largest city in Hawaii. He gathered friends who shared his dream, and they formed the HAM Board of Trustees. They started looking for a place and for art to display.

They decided to open the museum in the historic Hilo Iron Works building first. This building had a well-known art education program called "Art in the Iron Works." This program was kindly given to the museum in the summer of 2007.

New Art Arrives

Soon, donations of art started coming in! These included an original drawing by Picasso called "Two Monkeys." There were also works by Willem de Kooning, Suzanne Dix, and Dale Chihuly. The first money for the museum came from the trustees, Ted Coombs and his family, Stephen Davey, and from people who became museum members.

Opening Small Art Centers

In January 2008, the Hilo Art Museum began a plan to open small exhibit centers. These centers would be in different places across the Island of Hawaii. The first one was the Keaʻau Fine Art Center. It showed parts of the museum's main collection and had changing art shows.

In February 2009, the museum's Director, Stephen Davey, helped put on an art show at the Hilo Palace Theater. This show featured an Italian artist named Mirko. His paintings and ceramic pieces showed images that were true to Hawaiian culture.

Museum Closes

Sadly, the Hilo Art Museum Education Center closed in December 2008. The museum itself closed for good in June 2009.