Don’t think art is your thing? Art Lunch at the Hawai‘i State Art Museum (HiSAM) might change your mind. Fun, interesting activities and demonstrations are often part of the monthly program.

There was the time Hawaiian saddle maker Albert Moniz led the audience outdoors where he snapped a long bullwhip in the air. “The sound bounced off the building across the street with a loud crack,” museum educator Susan Hogan said. “Everyone who was close enough to hear that jumped!”

Members of the Onoe Kikunobu Dance Company explained the use of fans in Japanese dance during their presentation. They then got both men and women on their feet to learn a dance using the pretty props.

Handmade, hand-painted fans developed into an art form during Japan’s Edo period (1690-1868). “Classical Japanese dance traditions continue and still include elaborate kimonos, hairstyles and makeup,” Hogan said. “Colorful fans add to the dramatic look.”

PRINTMAKER Sergio Garzon brought a press to another Art Lunch. He showed attendees how it worked and invited them to make a print to take home. “The event’s format has morphed over the years from a lecture into more of a hands-on experience like that,” Hogan said. “Most of the people who attend aren’t professional artists, and it’s great to see them dive into the creative process and leave with a beautiful item that they’ve made.”

Participants have also played musical instruments, tried theatrical sword fighting, sung songs in Japanese and Hawaiian, and even built a small hale (house) of cordage, wooden poles and palm leaves.

Art Lunch was launched in 2005 as a public-engagement program by then-museum educator Michael Naylor. Hogan assumed the post the following year. The job’s responsibilities include planning the monthly series’ lineup of contemporary and traditional artists and cultural practitioners. They have included painters, sculptors, photographers, ceramists and fiber and mixed-media artists whose work is represented in the Art in Public Places collection.

Topics are diverse, covering ethnic traditions, historic preservation and a wide range of visual, literary and performing arts. Attendees can meet and chat with the presenters, many of whom have received statewide, national and/or international recognition. Speakers often bring finished works, works in progress and/or tools and materials for the audience to see, touch and possibly use.

“An hour is not enough time to complete a complicated project,” Hogan said. “That said, in the past, participants have been able to, for example, sketch a flower and put together a minibook. For those who don’t consider themselves to be artistic or who haven’t had much exposure to the arts, Art Lunch is a wonderful introduction to a variety of amazing genres.”

About Mele Kahalepuna Chun

At Tuesday’s Art Lunch, Mele Kahalepuna Chun will discuss the traditional Hawaiian art of feather work and how it has evolved over the years. When she was 5 years old, her grandmother, renowned feather-work artist Mary Louise Kekuewa, began teaching her how to create lei and hatbands from the delicate feathers of goose, duck, peacock, pheasant and other birds.

Chun admits she didnt immediately take to the art, working stints as a bartender, security officer and tour bus driver before becoming more involved with it during the Hawaiian cultural renaissance in the 1970s. She began teaching feather-work classes with Kekuewa and her mother, Paulette Kahalepuna, and giving talks when they were not available.

Now that her mom and grandmother have died, Chun is honored to assume the role of standard-bearer. No longer is feather work an obligation; she creates and teaches with as much love and joy as they did.

Classes are available daily except Sunday by appointment at Chun’s Kapahulu shop, Na Lima Mili Hulu Noeau (skilled hands that touch the feathers). Although she prefers to give private lessons, she can accommodate up to six students at a time. Cost is $30 per session plus materials. For more information, call 499-7048, email pnkhulu@yahoo.com or visit featherlegacy.com.

Cheryl Chee Tsutsumi is a Honolulu-based freelance writer whose travel features for the Star-Advertiser have won several Society of American Travel Writers awards.