[ART]iculations: 14th Annual Mixed Media Miniature Show

Give The Gift of Art: 14th Annual Mixed Media Miniature Show

The Koa Art Gallery returns with their annual  Mixed Media Miniature exhibition, just in time for the holidays



Mary Mitsuda

Brush – II

oil on panel

Each year, the Koa Art Gallery hosts a Mixed Media Miniature Show. Like the title suggests, the exhibition comprises of small-scale works created using a wide array of mediums. Participating artists come from all walks of life, from the emerging young hopefuls to the more established names in the business.

Over the years, the gallery’s Mixed Media Miniature Show has become one that patrons and supporters of the arts look forward to. After an overwhelming response to its first run back in 1996, the gallery’s director, David Behlke decided to bring it back the following year. The rest is history. The show is still going strong and in its 14th year this holiday season. With more than 200 works from some 150 different artists (all within a reasonable size and cost range, I might add), this event also makes for an unexpected yet perfect holiday shopping destination.



Johanette Rowley

Gaurdian Apple

Earthenware

The exhibition itself reminds me somewhat of the Affordable Art Fair. Founder Will Ramsay started the fair back in 1999 with the intention of making works of art attainable to all. Since then, Ramsay’s utopian ideal has become a very popular reality, with locations in more than 10 cities internationally (in the States, New York and Los Angeles are among them.)

The appeal of the Mixed Media Miniature Show, just like Affordable Art Fair, is in its accessibility. The market structure has made it increasingly difficult for those outside of the “1%” (millionaire collectors, essentially) to afford art, no matter how strong their love for it may be. With sales being the crux of support for local artists and artistic prosperity in general, there’s definitely room for improvement in this picture.



Madeleine Keeble

Buttons!

Mixed media earrings

We’ve been hearing a lot of talk about the importance of supporting local businesses during the holiday season. As a collector and supporter of the arts myself, I can’t stress enough how much this has always been relevant in the arts as well. However, the high price tag of most works of art have made it understandably difficult to do so. The good news is that most pieces in the Mixed Media Miniature show range on average from $80-200, making them affordable for nearly every budget. The Mixed Media Miniature Show is displayed a la salon style, with nearly every inch of the floor filled with sculpture, jewelry, paintings and photography. A few of my personal favorites include handmade button earrings by Madeleine Keeble and one-of-a-kind, funky sculpture pieces by Johanette Rowley.

14th Annual Mixed Media Miniature Show

Koa Art Gallery

November 17- December 16, 2011

For more information, visit the gallery online at koagallery.kcc.hawaii.edu.

ARTiculations is a blog on culture and the arts by Carolyn Mirante for FLUX Hawaii. Carolyn is a Honolulu-based art critic and Owner/Director of the Gallery of Hawaii Artists (GoHA), an alternative exhibition space dedicated to the contemporary arts in Hawai’i.

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