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Arts With AlohaBy Judy Babcock Wylie
The group includes the Bishop Museum, the Honolulu Academy of Arts and Shangri La (former home of Doris Duke), the Iolani Palace, the Hawaii Opera Theater, the Hawaii Theater, Diamond Head Theater, Ballet Hawaii, the Mission Houses Museum, The Contemporary Museum, the Honolulu Symphony, the University of Hawaii Art Gallery, the Manoa Valley Theater, and the Hawaii State Art Museum. What’s NewOne of the newest members is Shangri La, the former private estate of millionairess Doris Duke. One of the best new experiences in town, a tour of the estate is $25 and meets at the Honolulu Academy of Art in the Islamic Gallery, as Duke collected Islamic art. Then a van takes guests to the estate on the slopes of Diamond Head. The tours will be offered for the first time November, 2002; call 866/385-3849 ( DUKETIX) for reservations. The other new Arts of Aloha member is the Hawaii State Art Museum, (downtown across from the Iolani Palace) which features 5,000 pieces of contemporary art created since 1970 by artists living in Hawaii. Admission here is free. We explored several of the Arts of Aloha sites (plus the Bishop Museum, not technically part of the group but not to be missed) the last time we were in Honolulu. Here’s a run-down of a few of our favorites:
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Like museums? Forget
New York. Book a flight to Honolulu, where you can spend your entire
vacation within the cool, high walls of the city’s many fine art, culture
and history museums. If you must get a tan, you can always sit in courtyards studded
with sculpture, enjoying the sun and the sound of water falling into ponds
of water lilies. Don’t worry about being bored: you’ll be too busy
learning ancient hula chants or ogling wooden bowls studded with human and
dog teeth at the Bishop Museum; standing in the Victorian-era room where the
last member of the sole American royal family was held prisoner at the Iolani Palace, having lunch at the restaurant located in the Honolulu
Academy of Arts, where the food is so good it has been praised by Food and
Wine and Bon Appetit magazines. You also could find yourself buying an
in-your-face wall hanging of a 4x5- foot metal aloha shirt at the
Contemporary Museum. 
“Arts
of Aloha” is a program that makes it easy to find these and other
kinds of cultural thrills in Honolulu.
You can get a free 32-page color brochure explaining all the museums and art
venues involved and a schedule of events by calling 808/532-8713 or
writing HAA, Arts with Aloha Brochure, 900 S. Beretania Street, Honolulu, HI
96814. You can also check out their Web site, 
The Bishop
Museum
Honolulu
Academy of Art:
The
Contemporary Art Museum
The Mission
Houses