Hawaii State Foundation on Culture and the Arts

10/01/2026

Call for student artists! Hawaiʻi students grades 7-12 (ages 13 and up) are invited to enter the 2027 Hawaiʻi Regional Scholastic Student Art Awards Competition. Sponsor and co-presenter Lexus Hawaiʻi is funding scholarship award opportunities for students and schools! Learn more on the SFCA website: sfca.hawaii.gov.

Entries are due by December 12, 2026. Gold Key award winning artworks will be displayed in the 2027 Hawaiʻi Regional Scholastic Student Art Awards Exhibition at Capitol Modern: the Hawaiʻi State Art Museum.

10/01/2026

Interested in working with the SFCA? Contract work for the Hawaiʻi State Foundation on Culture and the Arts currently includes administrative support and logistical services for arts and culture programs; registrar services for the public art collection, and public works infrastructure improvements. Learn more on our website: sfca.hawaii.gov/news.

The SFCA is Hawaiʻi's state government arts agency, administratively attached to the State of Hawaiʻi Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism. SFCA programs include Capitol Modern: the Hawaiʻi State Art Museum.

Artwork in image is "The Field of Being" by Linda Whittemore, 2001. Viscosity monotype. Art in Public Places Collection of the SFCA. Currently on display in the Workforce Development office of the State of Hawaiʻi Department of Labor and Industrial Relations. Explore the collection online at sfca.hawaii.gov/app-art.

Image description: SFCA logo and text reading "contract work includes admin support, logistical services, public works infrastructure improvements" over a print depicting an abstract landscape in shades of gray and green.

09/30/2026

AWARD CEREMONY STREAMING LIVE AT 11:30 AM HAWAIʻI TIME: Ke Kumu Hawaii honored in Washington, D.C. at National Endowment for the Arts 2026 National Heritage Fellowships award ceremony.

Lloyd Kumulāʻau Sing, Jr. and May Haunani Balino-Sing (Ke Kumu Hawaiʻi) are Hawaiian twined basketry artists, educators, and cultural stewards who have played a central role in the revival of ulana ʻie, a traditional Hawaiian weaving practice. Through more than four decades of shared work, the Sings have helped restore a nearly lost art form while training new generations of practitioners grounded in cultural knowledge, environmental care, and community responsibility.

09/30/2026

Streaming live at 11:30 a.m. Hawaiʻi time! National Endowment for the Arts 2026 Heritage Fellows being honored include Ke Kumu Hawaii. Hulo!

National Endowment for the Arts will honor the 2026 National Herita...

09/23/2026

09/19/2026

Congratulations to our State Foundation on Culture and the Arts Recognition Award winners!

We are deeply grateful to the State Foundation on Culture and the Arts for all they do to support, preserve, and celebrate the art and cultural heritage of Hawaiʻi—for the people of Hawaiʻi and for generations to come.

See these pieces in person on Oahu for one more week!
Oahu Exhibition
September 4-25
Downtown Art Center, Honolulu
Gallery hours: Tuesday - Sunday 11-5 pm, free and open to the public

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SLIDE 1:
Jane Mount
Cosmos
Original and found textiles, ribbon, and thread, hand stitched on linen

"This is a textile collage about how we are all part of the universe and connected within it, and yet we only experience what our current tools allow us to, and we understand very little. I’m fascinated by all our attempts to explain the world—both the science we work out and the myths we create—in order to keep going in it.
I collect fabrics and create my own, then collage and hand-sew bits of them onto linen. I embroider and stitch line drawings on top, then stretch the piece on a wooden frame."

SLIDE 2:
Margaret Teruya
Hoʻomaluhia Pali
Fiber, batik fabrics

"Hoʻomaluhia Botanical Gardens in Kāneʻohe is a source of endless wonders and inspirational views. I used batik fabrics and adaptations of quilting and collage techniques to construct this piece."

09/11/2026

For guest curator Lauren Trangmar, selecting works for the "Trifecta" exhibit at Capitol Modern (the Hawaiʻi State Art Museum) began with something she has always felt connected to: water. “I’m an ocean person, so that always draws me.”

09/04/2026

The SFCA office will be closed on Monday, September 7, 2026 for the Labor Day state holiday. This includes the entire No. 1 Capitol District building, front lawn, and Sculpture Garden.

Image description: slide 1, bold white text "labor day holiday s f c a office closed monday september 7 2026" over a blurred image of an artwork detail. slide 2, photo of an artwork made up of multiple panels, four paintings, and pieces of wood. A partial work boot print the color of red dirt found in agricultural fields is visible at the top of the artwork. Artwork is "Water: Irrigation Flume Hanamaulu 27B. Earth: Furrow Cane Field Newly Planted Hanamalu 10. Fire: Burning Cane Field for Harvest Hanamaulu 22. Lihue Plantation" by Alfred Gray, 2003. Acrylic painting. Art in Public Places Collection of the State Foundation on Culture and the Arts. Purchased from the 2005 "Art Kauaʻi" exhibition. Currently on display in the State of Hawaiʻi Department of Accounting and General Services, Office of Enterprise Technology Services. Explore the collection online at sfca.hawaii.gov/app-art.

08/26/2026

"We're part of a movement across the Pae ʻāina to really center arts and along with it, center, healing center, wellness center, connection to this aina. We've been doing this teaching artist institute for many years, but it's always a new experience. There's always a deepening of the practice. always points of inspiration." - Laurel Salinas-Nakanishi. The Teaching Artist Institute is an annual professional development offering from the State Foundation on Culture and the Arts. The 2026 TAI was organized by the Honolulu Theatre for Youth . Learn more on the SFCA website: sfca.hawaii.gov/news.