Press & Media Coverage
A warm mahalo to ʻŌlelo Community Media, and Island Focus anchor Lyla Berg for this interview with our fearless leader, Sandy Pohl. Bringing people together to celebrate the arts is an art as well!
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Enjoy art in downtown Honolulu
KauKau Hawaii (Japanese) | Editorial
April 6, 2023“ハワイのアーティスト作品を直接見るなら、古くから多くのアートギャラリーやアーティストのアトリエが集まるホノルルのダウンタウン・チャイナタウン地区が１番！
毎月第一金曜日の「ファーストフライデー」などアートのストリートイベントもたくさん行われ、最新アートギャラリー、おしゃれな雑貨店も集まります。ということで、ダウンタウン・チャイナタウンのアート地区（HEART）、その中心となるダウンタウンアートセンター、またアートイベントやギャラリー情報についてご紹介します。”
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Galleries and museums enliven Oahu’s art scene
Honolulu Star-Advertiser | By Steven Mark
April 9, 2023“Hawaii art lovers can enjoy watercolor, comic book-inspired art and a new way of looking at the landscape of Hawaii this month at galleries and museums around the island.”
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Letter: Local art exhibit is great reason to go downtown
Honolulu Star-Advertiser | Letters
December 31, 2022“I just went to see the DAC Holiday Invitational exhibit at the Downtown Art Center, same building as where you renew your driver’s license. “
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New photo exhibit to highlight the people and places of Chinatown
Hawaii Public Radio | By Jayna Omaye
December 29, 2022“A photo exhibit featuring about 40 pictures shot by nine photographers in Chinatown will soon open at the Downtown Art Center in Honolulu.
The photographers are part of the group PhotoCameraden. The theme of the exhibit, which will fill the center's second-floor gallery, focuses on how the wisdom of the past helps guide our future.”
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The Centenarian: Esther Nowell
HONOLULU Magazine | By Martha Cheng
November 2022“Save the light,” says Esther Nowell, the 102-year-old instructor of a watercolor class at the Downtown Art Center. “You need some lights, you need some darks. Use your imagination—what does it need? Try it all, that’s my motto.” Her students paint the sky and sea—though it’s clear that the class is not the main focus for everyone. Some students don’t want to just learn about the magic of paint and water. They want to understand the magic of Nowell herself.”
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3 photographers join forces for powerful monochrome exhibit in Honolulu
Hawaii Public Radio | By Catherine Cruz
September 13, 2022“Three photographers. One show. It’s entitled "Portraits in Monochrome." Floyd Takeuchi curated the exhibit at the Downtown Art Center. It features black and white images from across the community taken by three longtime friends.”
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Artist perspectives from two sides of life's timeline at Downtown Art Center
Hawaii Public Radio | By Russell Subiono
August 24, 2022“The exhibition “Illusion and Reality” at Honolulu’s Downtown Art Center showcases photorealistic oil paintings by two artists from two generations. Charles Valoroso is "the Boomer," a self-described art activist who recently returned home to Hawaiʻi after 50 years in arts education in California. Crissia Vaughn is "the Millennial" who grew up on Oʻahu and recently graduated with a fine arts degree from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa.”
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New Honolulu exhibit shares critically endangered practice of hula kiʻi, Hawaiian puppetry
Hawaii Public Radio | By Jayna Omaye
July 19, 2022“Kumu hula Auliʻi Mitchell has worked for more than 30 years to bring back the critically endangered practice of hula kiʻi. The tradition, which was almost lost when the missionaries banned hula, involves using puppets and imagery to tell a story.”
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Preserving the endangered art of hula kiʻi, Hawaiian puppetry
Hawaii Public Radio | By Russell Subiono
June 30, 2022“Hawaiian culture has many traditional art forms. You’re probably familiar with hula, mele, and oli. One you may not have heard of is hula kiʻi, or puppetry.”
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Don’t Call It a Comeback: 3 New Art Galleries Open in Honolulu’s Chinatown
HONOLULU Magazine | By Katrina Valcourt
June 8, 2022“If you look up at the zodiac creatures staring down from Chinatown Gateway Plaza, you may also catch a glimpse through the second-floor windows of Downtown Art Center’s new gallery, which hosted its first show in late 2020 and absorbed works from the Louis Pohl Gallery in 2021. The space hosts various community groups and nonprofits; downstairs, you’ll find more local art and gifts.”
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New exhibits refresh Honolulu’s art scene
Honolulu Star-Advertiser | By Steven Mark
May 1, 2022“Just because Hawai‘i Triennial 2022 is winding down, it doesn’t mean that Hawaii’s art community is taking a rest, too. There are a number of other interesting art exhibits out there, some of them already in progress and some opening soon.”
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Historic exhibition by Molokai artists in Honolulu
KHON | By Chelsee Yee
April 14, 2022“The largest group exhibition by Molokai artists in Honolulu is taking place in May at the Downtown Art Center on 1041 Nuuanu Ave. In collaboration with Nā Heona Molokai, this is the center’s first art exhibition exclusively featuring artists from Molokai.
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Monday Night Drawing Group makes comeback after 2 years shut down
KITV | By Lia Kamanā & Tom George
March 12, 2022“More businesses and activities are opening to in-person service as COVID numbers decline. That includes one group of artists or aspiring artists who have been meeting for over 30 years. They’re called the Monday Night Life Drawing Group, and they’re finally able to get back together after 2 years of being shut down.”
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See into the minds of local architects through art at the Downtown Art Center
Hawaii Public Radio | By Noe Tanigawa
January 19, 2022“A new exhibit at the Downtown Art Center in Honolulu highlights a different side of those who design the buildings we see every day.”
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Downtown Art Center kicks off ‘First Friday’ event of the year held in Historic Chinatown Gateway Plaza
KHON | By Kaile Hunt
Jan 7, 2022“Downtown Art Center is starting off the 2022 new year with a bang showcasing work from more than a dozen local artists.
At the event you will get to see art from over 15 local artists, who showcase their work on neighbor islands and beyond.”
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Work of John and Kate Kelly highlight an exhibition on hula at the Downtown Art Center
Honolulu Star-Advertiser | By Steven Mark
Aug. 1, 2021“The artwork of John Kelly radiates with warmth — a warmth in the images themselves, which have a glow reminiscent of the Dutch masters, but also in the feelings for the people he portrayed, many of whom were neighbors from a nearby Hawaiian fishing village.”
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New exhibitions around Honolulu tickle artistic senses
Honolulu Star-Advertiser | By Steven Mark
July 4, 2021“The local art scene continues to open up. Here are some new exhibitions around town.”
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Grand Opening of Downtown Art Center Features Over 30 Local Artists
Hawaii Public Radio | By Noe Tanigawa
June 17, 2021“The city has plans for the first and second floors of Chinatown Gateway Plaza, according to Makanani Sala, Honolulu's Culture and Arts Director. She said the idea is to create a hub for theater, arts, events and collaborations—and that's good news for area businesses of every kind.”
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UH Manoa Art Students Self-Fund Graduation Exhibition at Downtown Art Center
Hawaii Public Radio | By Noe Tanigawa
May 25, 2021“Due to the pandemic, many exhibitions normally held on the University of Hawaii Manoa campus migrated online in 2020 and through the first semester of 2021. In a bold move, about 30 Bachelor of Fine Arts students raised money through crowdfunding for a graduation exhibition, "Turning the Key," at the Downtown Art Center.”
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New Downtown Art Center Opens at Chinatown Gateway Plaza
Honolulu Star-Advertiser | Nina Wu
November 10, 2020“Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell unveiled the new Downtown Art Center on the second floor of Chinatown Gateway Plaza on Tuesday morning.”
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'A Dream Come True'
Honolulu Star-Advertiser | Rasa Fournier
June 6, 2019Mahalo to the Honolulu Star-Advertiser for giving us permission to post this story about DAC’s Executive Director, Sandra Pohl, and how her labor of love developed into the current art space.
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Downtown Arts Center: Win-Win-Win
Hawaiʻi Public Radio | By Noe Tanigawa
March 19, 2019“Hawai‘i’s artists, designers, and makers are being invited to pitch ideas for a new community art center in the City’s Chinatown Gateway Plaza. Several key Honolulu arts organizations have secured a trial space for a pop up this Saturday, then for two and a half months. If all goes well, HPR’s Noe Tanigawa reports, a vibrant art center could make it easy for Honolulu’s business people to get creative.”