Honolulu, Hawaii
Welcome to Downtown Art Center!
Second Floor Gallery Hours: Tues-Sun 11 AM to 5 PM
Studio 1C Gallery Hours: Tues-Sun 11 AM to 5 PM
DAC Art & Gifts Shop Hours: Tues-Sat 11 AM to 5 PM
Upcoming Main Gallery Exhibition
*Please note that DAC’s upstairs galleries will be CLOSED until January 13, 2025, when classes will resume. Exhibitions will return in February with Pacific New Media’s Contemporary Photography in Hawaiʻi 2025, on view February 6-21.
Current Studio 1C Exhibition
Creative Community Center Artist Co-op
On View January 3-29, 2025
EVENTS:
-First Friday Reception: Friday, January 3 from 5:30-8 p.m. with live music by Kevin Hirasa & Lil Albert.
-January Jazz at DAC: Live music every Sunday from 2-4 p.m. with the Alika Lyman Group + Reggie Padilla (Jan. 5), Maggie Herron + Dean Taba (Jan. 12), The Honolulu Jazz Quartet (Jan. 19), and Bruce Hamada + Jim Howard (Jan. 26).
-Chinese New Year Choy Cheng (Lion Dance) Celebration: Friday, January 24 from 5:30 - 8 p.m. with live music by Men in Grey Suits, lion dancers and firecrackers!
-Na Hoku Hanohano award winning musician Lee Eisenstein: Every Wednesday from 12 - 1 p.m.
-Veteran local musician Nate Hatico: Every Thursday from 12-1 p.m.
With more to come!
During the month of January, DAC is excited to present the Creative Community Center, a cooperative pop-up pilot project for local artists and arts nonprofits, in the downstairs Studio 1C space at Chinatown Gateway Plaza, a vacant space on lease from the City and County of Honolulu. The space will provide shared access for participating artists and nonprofit arts organizations, while showcasing its many potential uses, including art classes, workshops, live music, cultural events, meeting spaces, and a cooperative gallery.
Invited participating artists include Jackie Mild Lau, Linda Kane, Yukio Ozaki, Liz Train, Dwayne Adams, Marina Borovok, and Alla Parsons.
Upcoming Events & Exhibitions
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DAC Walking Tour: Art, History & Architecture in the HEART of Honolulu
Saturday, January 11 from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m., $20 per person
Downtown Art Center (DAC) offers a unique way to experience the historical and artistic heritage of the HEART district of downtown Honolulu with this NEW walking tour, led by Historian Gary R. Coover, author of "Pocket Walking Tour of Honolulu's Royal Mile,” and veteran artist and educator Susan Hogan.
Your guides will lead you on a lively 1.5 to 2-hour walk through streets layered with cultural, architectural and historical backstory. Pivotal events, locations and commemorative artworks will be pointed out and discussed. Participants will engage with the vibrant stories that shape this area and receive a complimentary copy of Gary’s insightful book. Don’t miss this chance to experience the artistic and historical heritage of Downtown Honolulu!
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January Jazz Live Music Series
Every Sunday in January, from 2-4 p.m.
FREE and open to the public!Enjoy live music by local musicians in the downstairs Studio 1C space this January, with a stellar lineup that includes the Alika Lyman Group with Reggie Padilla, Maggie Herron and Dean Taba, The Honolulu Jazz Quartet, Bruce Hamada and Jim Howard!
Other live music dates in January:
-First Friday, January 3, from 5:30 - 8 p.m.: piano & flute duo Not Yet
-Every Wednesday from 12 - 1 p.m.: Na Hoku Hanohano award winner Lee Eisenstein-Every Thursday from 12-1 p.m.: veteran local musician Nate Hatico
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Chinese New Year Choy Cheng Party
Saturday, January 24 from 5:30 - 8 p.m.
As part of the 2025 Chinese New Year celebration sponsored by the City and County, DAC will commemorate the Year of the Snake and the 125th anniversary of the Great Chinatown Fire of 1900 with a special event in Chinatown Gateway Plaza's Studio 1C Gallery, January 24 from 5:30 - 8 p.m. The celebration, featuring lion dancers, firecrackers, live music by Men in Grey Suits, and other festivities, will reflect on the history of Chinatown, from the ashes of the fire to the vibrant community we have today, as well as our hopes for the future.
Beginning January 4, 2025, and continuing through the 24th, we invite the public to participate in an interactive project: Our visitors will be encouraged to write their wishes and dreams on traditional yellow Buddhist "wish papers," which will then be sewn together into a community lei to be displayed at the event.
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Pacific Raven Press Poetry Festival
Saturday, February 8 from 5-8 p.m.
FREE and open to the public.Come and listen to local poets read their latest work at this February poetry festival, featuring poet Leanna Day, author of “When the Moon Rises.”
Find out more at pacificravenpress.co
DAC Special Projects & Community Action
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Vacant to Vibrant
Downtown Honolulu and its historic Chinatown Arts District are in trouble. Once the vital heart of the Pacific business community, multiple circumstances, including economic downturns and the COVID pandemic, has changed a once-vibrant area into a struggling historic arts, entertainment, and restaurant district with blocks of abandoned real estate and rising crime and vandalism.
However, with change comes opportunity. The time is right to start the conversation about how Downtown Honolulu and the Chinatown Arts District can be transformed into a vibrant community that attracts both locals and visitors alike. Downtown Art Center’s Vacant to Vibrant project, with several phases planned, aims to prove that these vacant spaces can come alive again, as valuable hubs of art, creativity, and community involvement.
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Public Art WORKS!
The objective of DAC’s telephone kiosk painting project was to beautify Chinatown’s Fort Street Mall area by transforming its five obsolete, damaged telephone kiosks into works of art. The selected designs, by local artists Su Shen Atta, Yvonne Manipon, Sergio Garzon, Kahi Ching, and Charles Valoroso, are simple, colorful, fun, photogenic, and uplifting. The painting started on Saturday, October 22 and covered five telephone kiosks stretching the length of Fort Street Mall, from Beretania to Merchant Streets.
Find out more about this and other DAC initiatives to put art in public places!
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HEART of Honolulu Street Festivals
Celebrate the arts, culture, and good food as you walk, shop, and eat your way around the Chinatown Arts District. Downtown Art Center is proud to present the HEART of Honolulu Street Festival, a family-friendly, daytime art festival that closes Nuʻuanu Avenue, from King Street to Chaplain Lane, to showcase local art, live local music, food, crafts, and more. The last festival took place on Saturday, October 8, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. - stay tuned for the next street festival in April 2023!
HEART is an acronymn that stands for Heritage, Entertainment, Arts & culture, Restaurants, and Theatre & Performing Arts. Together these elements make up the core of our vibrant creative community.
Visit Us
1041 Nu’uanu Ave. Honolulu HI 96817
Exhibition Gallery Hours (2025):
Tues-Sun
11 a.m. – 5 p.m.
First Friday Hours:
5:30 - 8 p.m. every First Friday of the month!
Downstairs DAC Art & Gifts Shop Hours:
Tues-Sat
11 a.m. - 5 p.m.
Downstairs Studio 1C Gallery Hours:
Tues-Sun
11 a.m. - 5 p.m.
Phone
(808) 773-7339
PARKING INFORMATION
Parking for DAC is located at nearby municipal parking lots (onsite at Chinatown Gateway Plaza, parking entrance off Bethel Street) or at Mark's Garage (entrance at 22 S. Pauahi St.). On-site parking is by credit card only, and costs $0.75/half hour, with no grace period.
DAC is easily accessible by public transit as well; get directions, routes and timetables at www.thebus.org.