After the consolidation of the Honolulu Academy of Arts and The Contemporary Museum, the fate of the latter’s Makiki Heights site became uncertain. Different curatorial and administrative staffs, plus different traditions of programming, had to be brought together and, in some cases, pared down to accommodate the institution’s new financial and organizational alignments.

In a bold effort to ensure that Oahu keeps two distinct venues for art despite their single management, it turns out the folks at the Honolulu Museum of Art have decided to dedicate the Makiki site, now called Spalding House, to presenting shows that directly serve educators.

What?

You read it right, and the debut show, "A Thousand Words and Counting," is meant to help visitors — students in particular — explore literature through the visual arts. How can students come to understand the fine art of narrative through sculptures, installations of neon or digital displays, and various types of print?

Frankly, since young people have been primed for a return to hieroglyphics and ideographic communication thanks to our iDevices and social network platforms, they are probably well-prepared to interpret stories through objects that aren’t books.

The show is made up of five visually segregated areas that tackle the issue of text, literature and narrative through religious representation, the classic Japanese story of the 47 ronin, Francisco Goya’s "Proverbios," contemporary artistic engagements with text and word, and the letters of Queen Lili‘uokalani.

The first gallery features a pan-cultural survey of religious works, including: sculptures of a voluptuous Hindu goddess and a somber Christian saint, allegorical paintings from the earliest days of Buddhism, and poet William Blake’s visualizations of the Bible’s Book of Job. These are things that have brought their respective texts to life over centuries, and that remain legible in this one.

This section has particular pedagogical value in light of the chaos that can be caused by the caricature of a religious leader, and our ongoing cinematic obsession with representing the end of the world.

The 47 ronin series in the next gallery tackles a classical Japanese tale of intrigue, deception, violence and betrayal. The story is told in multiple media, including kabuki theater and popular illustrative prints. With an energetic visual style that clearly presents the fundamental influences of contemporary Japanese animation and manga (comics), this section may be the most accessible to students.

Whether presenting an action sequence or the portrait of an actor in character, the questions raised here have everything to do with the role that stylization can play in anchoring our interpretation of stories and the figures who populate them.

Next is the gallery featuring Goya’s series of etchings called "Proverbios." These are mysterious moments that could be sampled from nightmares or dark fantasies. There is little consensus regarding how these prints should be interpreted, but their odd scenes of conflict and ambiguous struggle between people, freaks and monsters will play well to teens whose tastes tend toward the gothic.

The back gallery features a dynamic dialogue between contemporary Hawaiian poet No‘u Revilla and the handwritten letters of Queen Lili‘uokalani. This is one of the quietest sections of the exhibit, charged with a very personalized dose of local history. The queen’s letters tell a story that has yet to be resolved, and Revilla’s sampling of her words for the wall text attempts to bridge the gap.

The contemporary art, with its clever, ironic and theoretical engagements with text, is in the downstairs gallery. This is the most challenging section because art of this type isn’t necessarily focused on a story to be illustrated so much as it is trying to push the boundaries of our relationships with words.

Jenny Holzer’s appropriation of scrolling LEDs, Joseph Kosuth’s purple neon reading "words are deeds," and Kay Rosen’s subway graffiti-scale "Blurred" all attempt to do so.

This last piece is particularly engaging due to the coupling of the word’s spelling with the colors used to render it. Hint: When blue and red are blurred, you get purple!

The show’s greatest challenge will be most teachers’ limited knowledge. Our Department of Education is a creature of standards and rubrics, worksheets, acronyms, checklists and flowcharts.

Though the making of art can be forced to accommodate such constraints, the interpretation of art and the application of one’s understanding can’t be.

Fortunately, the curators have not chosen to underestimate the capacities of our teachers and students, and they have put a good deal of effort into providing materials and activities that will engage students and teachers alike.

I cannot wait for this team to tackle other subject areas.