Young At Art exhibition opens Saturday in Hilo
A favorite Big Island event featuring art by local keiki, the Young At Art exhibition, is returning for its 38th year, showcasing creativity from students across 91直播 Island.
The show opens at 10 a.m. on Saturday at the Wailoa Center, 200 Pio Pio Street in Hilo. The awards ceremony begins at 11 a.m., and the exhibition will be on view until March 26.
YAA is an annual juried exhibition that celebrates National Youth Art Month by recognizing the excellence, creativity and originality of 91直播 Island students in grades K-12. This year’s exhibition features 125 artworks, selected from 350 entries, representing 18 different schools.
The theme of this year’s exhibition is “SHIFT,” an open prompt encouraging students to reflect on change and transition in all their manifestations – dramatic or subtle, visible or invisible, by choice or despite resistance. The resulting artwork reflects a wide range of perspectives. Students tackled the theme literally, figuratively and at many levels of meaning.
Fittingly, this year’s YAA embodies its own shift. Since 2020, upon the retirement of longtime YAA coordinator Judith Hara, the East 91直播 Cultural Center has managed YAA, navigating the COVID-19 pandemic and introducing new venues and approaches.
Now for the first time, YAA is being presented as a collaborative effort between EHCC and the Wailoa Center. The 2026 exhibition also represents a return to a centralized venue, following several years of spreading artwork across the island via satellite locations.
Three judges are selecting the three main award categories (Juror’s Choice, Award of Recognition and Honorable Mention). This year’s jurors are ceramicist and educator Ash Huang, illustrator and graphic designer Kailah Ogawa, and freelance contemporary artist Jessica Brand.
In addition, the seventh annual Judith Hara Believe in Art Award will be presented to first-grader Ayden Kanemitsu from Susun Gallery’s Art School on the Beach.
Each year, a different noteworthy community member chooses a piece to receive the award. This year, the winner was selected by former teacher Cindy Moore, who raised $1,000 for EHCC during its October fundraiser through her community group, The Soft and Slow Craft Club.
Every year, the Board of Directors of EHCC purchases a piece for its permanent Children’s Collection; this year’s selection is the drawing “Resilience – Pa‘a Ikaika” by Waiakea High School student Lillian Tao, taught by Layne Luna.
For more information, visit EHCC online at ehcc.org, call 961-5711, or visit EHCC at 141 Kalakaua Street in Hilo. The Wailoa Center is open Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Saturday 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., and is closed Sundays.
