Honolulu Museum of Art facts for kids
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| Established | 1922 |
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| Location | 900 South Beretania Street (between Ward and Victoria Streets), Honolulu, Hawaii |
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Honolulu Academy of Arts
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 Location in Hawaii
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| Location | 900 S. Beretania St., Honolulu, Hawaii |
| Built | 1927 |
| Architect | Bertram Goodhue |
| Architectural style | Hawaiian |
| NRHP reference No. | 72000415 |
| Added to NRHP | March 25, 1972 |
The Honolulu Museum of Art (also known as HoMA) is a famous art museum in Honolulu, Hawaiʻi. It is the biggest art museum in the state. Anna Rice Cooke started the museum in 1922. It officially opened its doors on April 8, 1927.
The museum has a huge collection of art, with over 55,000 pieces. It is especially known for its large collection of Asian and Pan-Pacific art. This makes it one of the most important museums of its kind in the United States.
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Discover the Honolulu Museum of Art
The Honolulu Museum of Art is a special place. J. Carter Brown, a former director of the National Gallery of Art, once called it "the finest small museum in the United States." Besides its amazing permanent art collection, the museum also hosts new art shows. It has an art school, a movie theater that shows unique films, a café, and a museum shop.
In 2011, another museum called The Contemporary Museum joined with the Honolulu Academy of Arts. In 2012, the combined museum changed its name to the Honolulu Museum of Art. The museum is officially recognized by the American Alliance of Museums. It is also listed as a National and State Historical site.
Explore the Art Collections
The Honolulu Museum of Art has a huge collection of Asian art. This includes more than 20,000 artworks. You can see art from Japan, China, Korea, India, Southeast Asia, Indonesia, and the Philippines. The museum is especially strong in Chinese and Japanese paintings. It also has many Korean ceramics, Buddhist and Shinto sculptures, and textiles from all over Asia.
One of the most famous parts of the Asian art collection is the James A. Michener Collection. This collection has over 10,000 Japanese ukiyo-e woodblock prints. It is the third largest collection of its kind in the United States.
The museum also has other important collections. These include Italian Renaissance paintings from the Samuel H. Kress collection. You can also find American and European paintings and decorative arts. There is art from Africa, Oceania, and the Americas. The museum also has textiles, contemporary art, and a graphics collection with over 23,000 works on paper.
The European and American art collection covers art from the Renaissance to today. It includes paintings, sculptures, and decorative arts. You can see famous Impressionist and Post-Impressionist paintings. Artists like Paul Gauguin, Vincent van Gogh, Claude Monet, and Pablo Picasso are featured. There are also works by important 20th-century artists like Alexander Calder and John Singer Sargent.
The museum has 32 galleries and six courtyards where you can see all these amazing artworks. The museum also shows the history of art in Hawaiʻi. There is a special gallery for traditional Hawaiian arts and art made by Hawaiʻi artists.
Plan Your Visit to the Museum
The Honolulu Museum of Art covers about 3.2 acres in downtown Honolulu. It is open from Wednesday to Sunday.
- Admission:
- Members and children 18 and under get in for free.
- There is a fee for others.
- Hawaiʻi residents can visit for free on the third Sunday of each month from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
- You can also join guided tours offered throughout the day.
- Hours:
- Wednesday and Thursday: 10 a.m. - 6 p.m.
- Friday and Saturday: 10 a.m. - 9 p.m.
- Sunday: 10 a.m. - 6 p.m.
- The museum is closed on Monday and Tuesday.
Doris Duke Theatre
The Doris Duke Theatre is located at the museum. It has 280 seats. This theater hosts movies, concerts, talks, and other presentations.
Robert Allerton Art Library
The Research Library opened in 1927 with 500 books. In 1955, it was made bigger and named after Robert Allerton. The library has 45,000 books and magazines. It also has files on artists and auction catalogs. It is a research library, so you cannot check out books. But you can read and study there. It is open to the public.
Honolulu Museum of Art School
Teaching about art has always been a main goal of the Honolulu Museum of Art since 1927. Every year, more than 40,000 kids and adults learn through free school tours, classes, and workshops. They also have fun activities on free museum days and special programs.
The Honolulu Museum of Art School opened in 1990. It helps thousands of children and adults learn art each year. The school is currently being updated and will open again in summer 2022.
Shangri La: Doris Duke Foundation for Islamic Art
Shangri La is a museum where you can learn about Islamic art and design. It offers special exhibitions, educational programs, and public events. You can visit Shangri La through a partnership with the Honolulu Museum of Art (HoMA). You need to make reservations to visit.
Doris Duke (1912–1993) built Shangri La with the help of architect Marion Sims Wyeth. Doris Duke collected Islamic art for over 60 years.
History of the Museum
Anna Rice Cooke (1853–1934) founded the Honolulu Museum of Art. She was the daughter of missionaries from New England. When the museum opened on April 8, 1927, she shared her vision:
"That our children of many nationalities and races, born far from the centers of art, may receive an intimation of their own cultural legacy and wake to the ideals embodied in the arts of their neighbors ... that Hawaiians, Americans, Chinese, Japanese, Koreans, Filipinos, Northern Europeans and all other people living here, contacting through the channel of art those deep intuitions common to all, may perceive a foundation on which a new culture, enriched by the old strains may be built in the islands." —Anna Rice Cooke
Anna Rice Cooke was born on Oʻahu in 1853. She grew up on Kauaʻi island in a family that loved art. In 1874, she married Charles Montague Cooke. They moved to Honolulu and built a home on Beretania Street in 1882. As Charles became successful, they started collecting art.
Their art collection grew too big for their home. In 1920, Anna, her daughter Alice, her daughter-in-law Dagmar, and Catharine E. B. Cox started to organize the collection. They wanted to display the art in a museum.
These women got a special permission for the museum from the Territory of Hawaii in 1922. Anna Cooke wanted a museum that showed Hawaiʻi's many cultures. She also wanted the museum to feel open and airy, with courtyards connecting the galleries. This design fits Hawaiʻi's climate.
The Cookes gave their land on Beretania Street and $25,000 to start the museum. Their home was taken down to build the museum. New York architect Bertram Goodhue designed the building in a classic Hawaiian style. It has simple off-white walls and tiled roofs. Goodhue passed away before the museum was finished. Hardie Phillip completed the project. This style has been copied in many buildings across Hawaiʻi.
The Honolulu Museum of Art opened on April 8, 1927. There was a traditional Hawaiian blessing. The Royal Hawaiian Band played music for the celebration. Many art pieces and even whole collections were given to the museum when it opened.
Over the years, the museum added more buildings. These include a library (1956), an education wing (1960), a gift shop (1965), and a cafe (1969). A contemporary gallery, offices, and a theater were added in 1977. An art center for classes opened in 1989. In 1999, the museum added a children's interactive gallery, a lecture hall, and more offices.
The original museum building was named Hawaiʻi's best building by the American Institute of Architecture. It is a registered National and State Historical site. The museum is also recognized by the American Alliance of Museums.
In 1998, the museum started big renovations. The Asian wing was updated first. In September 1999, construction began on the Henry R. Luce Pavilion Complex. This complex opened on May 13, 2001. It made the Pavilion Café and Museum Shop bigger. It also added a new two-story exhibition building. The Luce Complex is named after Henry Luce, who started Time magazine. His wife, Clare Boothe Luce, lived in Hawaiʻi and was on the museum's board.
New galleries that show how different cultures influenced art opened in the Western Wing in November 1999. A new gallery for Korean art opened in June 2001. Galleries for the arts of India, Indonesia, and Southeast Asia opened in January 2002. A new gallery for art from the Philippines opened in 2003. In 2005, the museum opened a studio to restore Asian paintings. They also finished updating the Western Art galleries.
In 2001, the museum partnered with the Doris Duke Foundation for Islamic Art. The theater was updated and renamed for Doris Duke in July 2002. In October 2002, the museum opened a new gallery. This gallery helps visitors get ready for tours to Doris Duke's Honolulu home, Shangri La. These tours started on November 6, 2002.
Due to the 2019–20 coronavirus pandemic, the museum had to reduce its staff in April 2020. This was done to help stop the spread of COVID-19.
Museum Name Changes and Mergers
The former Contemporary Museum, Honolulu joined with the Honolulu Academy of Arts in July 2011. In December 2011, the museum's board decided to change its public name to the Honolulu Museum of Art. This change happened in March 2012. The museum's legal name is still the Honolulu Academy of Arts.
The former Contemporary Museum, or Spalding House, became the Honolulu Museum of Art Spalding House. The Art Center at Linekona became the Honolulu Museum of Art School. The Contemporary Museum at First Hawaiian Center became the Honolulu Museum of Art at First Hawaiian Center.
Sale of Spalding House
On July 16, 2019, the museum announced it would sell Spalding House. This decision was made to help the museum focus its money and efforts on its main campus on Beretania Street.
Mark Burak, an interim director, explained that it was a hard decision. He said it was difficult to manage two large art campuses. One campus had limitations that made it hard to offer the best art shows and programs.
Jim Pierce, a trustee, added that selling Spalding House would benefit the museum in the long run. He said the board always looks at all options to keep the museum financially strong.
Museum Directors
- Halona Norton-Westbrook: 2020 to present
- Sean O’Harrow: 2017 to 2019
- Stephan Jost: 2011 to 2016
- Stephen Little: 2003 to 2010
- George R. Ellis: 1982 to 2003
- James W. Foster: 1963 to 1982
- Robert P. Griffing, Jr.: 1947 to 1963
- Edgar C. Schenck: 1935 to 1947
- Kathrine McLane Jenks: 1929 to 1935
- Catharine E. B. Cox: 1927 to 1928
- Frank M. Moore: 1924 to 1927
Learning and Education at HoMA
Education is a very important part of the Honolulu Museum of Art's mission. The museum works with teachers and schools. It provides ways for visual art to be a key part of learning. The museum's education programs include guided tours, workshops, and art classes for kids.
School programs offer art classes for students with special needs. They also have programs for students in Hawaiʻi public schools. These programs combine museum tours with hands-on art creation in studio classes. The museum also has a small library. This library helps teachers, students, and artists with their research.
Guided Tours
Special guides called docents lead tours for the public and school groups. If you have a group of ten or more, or a class, you should schedule your tour at least two weeks ahead of time.
Special tours often focus on temporary art shows. They might include extra materials and activities, some made just for kids. Workshops for teachers are also offered. Theme tours focus on a specific country, time period, or group of artists.
Activities for Children
Gallery Hunt Activity Sheets help visitors explore the galleries. These sheets ask you to find certain artworks that fit a theme.
The museum works with the Hawaiʻi Department of Education. They provide art education programs for students across the state.
Other Learning Resources
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- The Robert Allerton Art Research Library: This library is open to college students and adults for art research. It has over 40,000 books. It also includes museum records and artist files. You can use the internet for free there.
- Lending Collection: This collection has art objects, crafts, and folk art from around the world. It also has books and art reproductions. These items can be borrowed by schools, libraries, and other community groups.
Luce Pavilion Complex
The Luce Pavilion Complex opened on May 13, 2001. It includes a new café, a gift shop, and a two-story building. This building has two large galleries, each 4,000 square feet. The complex also has underground storage and modern systems for climate control and lighting. It is fully accessible for wheelchairs. This project cost over $9 million.
The complex added 26,000 square feet to the museum. This made the museum's total size 143,000 square feet. The Luce Foundation gave $3.5 million to help build the complex. The Henry R. Luce Gallery hosts traveling art exhibitions.
The John Dominis and Patches Damon Holt Gallery
The second floor of the Henry R. Luce Wing has art from the museum's Arts of Hawaiʻi collection. The John Dominis and Patches Damon Holt Gallery shows traditional Hawaiian art. It also features early Western views of Hawaiʻi. You can also see art by modern artists who live in Hawaiʻi. This gallery shows how life and landscapes changed in Hawaiʻi after Europeans arrived. It also explores how art traditions changed as island communities grew.
Early pictures of Hawaiʻi from the late 1700s and early 1800s are on display. These were made by artists like John Webber and Robert Dampier. They show the first time the Western world met Hawaiʻi. Later 19th-century art shows the growth of Western-style communities. It also shows an appreciation for the land and sea.
The Holt Gallery also has paintings, watercolors, drawings, and photographs. Artists like Georgia O'Keeffe and Ansel Adams are featured. Works by Hawaiʻi-born artists like Isami Doi and Hon Chew Hee show how modern art developed in Hawaiʻi in the 20th century. Today's artists like Lisa Reihana are also included. The gallery also has space for changing exhibitions about the arts of Hawaiʻi.
The Holt Gallery is named after John Dominis Holt and his wife Frances "Patches" Damon Holt. John Dominis Holt was part-Hawaiian and from a royal family. He learned about Hawaiian religion, customs, and language. Frances "Patches" Damon Holt was an honorary trustee of the museum. She was involved in many cultural projects.
HoMA Café & Coffee Bar
The museum café started in 1969. It used to have a simple menu and was run by volunteers for over twenty years. Later, professional staff took over. In September 1999, the café moved and became more than twice as big. It now overlooks a beautiful fountain and sculptures.
The HoMA Café offers tasty, modern food and drinks. It is an open-air café and is committed to being environmentally friendly. The Coffee Bar is outside in the Palm Courtyard. It offers coffee, tea, and snacks. You do not need to pay museum admission to eat at the Café during lunch hours.
Images for kids
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Courtyard at the Honolulu Museum of Art.
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Passageway at the Honolulu Museum of Art.
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Gallery at the Honolulu Museum of Art.
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Ahu 'ula (feather cape), late 18th-early 19th century. Made from feathers and plant fibers.
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Gautama Buddha and the Eight Great Bodhisattvas, Korea, Joseon dynasty, 16th century.
See also
In Spanish: Museo de Arte de Honolulu para niños
- Gustav Ecke
- Honolulu Museum of Art School
- Richard Douglas Lane
- Shangri La (Doris Duke)
- Spalding House
