About
Our Exhibitions
As the only venue in West Hawai’i offering museum quality exhibitions year round, the Mill serves artists by offering a dynamic space for contemporary visual arts to exhibit as an entry point to explore diverse perspectives, tell stories and to encourage meaningful dialogue. The program is informed by Native Hawaiian cultural values and aims to amplify Indigenous curatorial processes and community perspectives in the contemporary arts arena. The Mill is committed to elevating the voices of Native Hawaiian, BIPOC, LGBTQ+ artists with the belief that representation is a step towards empowerment and equality.
We hold four to six exhibitions annually, each consisting of a suite of programs and materials including artist talks, workshops, tours, panel discussions, residencies, photo and video documentation, catalogs, publications, and more. These programs provide time and space for all ages to share individual, collective and inter-generational knowledge.
Our gallery is free and open to the public and accessible remotely through recorded programs.
Exhibitions are curated by Mina Elison who works closely with the Mill’s Program Team, which is involved in exhibition and residency conception, planning and implementation. With expertise in their respective fields, connections to regional and global artists, and valuable institutional knowledge, each team member plays a role in the ability to consistently produce these programs.
Exhibition
Curation
Exhibitions are curated by Mina Elison who works closely with the Mill’s Program Team, which is involved in exhibition and residency conception, planning and implementation. With expertise in their respective fields, connections to regional and global artists, and valuable institutional knowledge, each team member plays a role in the ability to consistently produce these programs.
Our Curator
Mina Elison (Kanaka ‘Oiwi), Curator, has over ten years of experience curating engaging educational and culturally-based exhibitions and public programs. As a curator, she aims to amplify the voices, stories and perspectives of those who continue to be underrepresented and marginalized through the creation of exhibitions featuring artwork of diverse media from artists at various stages of their career.
Artist
Residency Program
The Artist Residency Program promotes the exchange of knowledge, ideas, stories and perspectives between visiting artists, regionally-based artists and the community at-large. This program gives our community access to top artists from around the world, and visiting artists bring the influence of their time in Hawai’i back to cross-pollinate their art practice and corner of the world. Local artists learn specialized techniques and are exposed to new approaches through workshops; our artist-residents connect with local artists through studio visits, site visits, and collaborations; Artist Talks or Panel Discussions inform community and facilitate dialogue on topics often of profound importance to our region; Artist-residents are incorporated into the Exhibition program and provide the artist an opportunity to exhibit in our space; and publications and digital documentation are at the forefront of capturing the residencies, providing archival material for the artist, shareable well beyond their time on-site.
Artists are invited to work with the Mill based on relationships built over time and our collective networks. The Residency Program creates opportunities for visiting artists to advance their practice in our studios and among the robust community that the Mill has built. Artists have access to ceramics, printmaking, metal and fiber arts spaces, while also being able to adapt our facilities for other mediums and visual art focuses. While we have a deep appreciation and love for medium-based work, we also work with artists seeking to advance their social practice and interest in community building.
Free from many limitations of larger institutions, our team has the ability to think big, make detailed plans and still have the ability and freedom to adjust course as needed. Our relationships with artists thrive because of the emphasis placed on reflection; after every exhibition and residency, we gather involved artists, program staff, and partners to celebrate what worked and what could have been done differently.
2024
- Michelle Kumata, October
- Sam Chung, September
2023
- Michel Tuffery, March
2022
- Melanie Yazzie, October
- Yeonsoo Kim, September
Stay in
the Know
For upcoming exhibition and program announcements, sign up for our Newsletter.
Exhibitions and programming are made possible by support from grants and our community of individual donors.