FOR THE LOVE OF ART

From the time he was 17, North Shore resident George Atkins worked in various aspects of business. But after 30 years, he still hadn’t found his niche. Then he decided to follow his passion – art. He opened Haleiwa Art Gallery fronting Kamehameha Highway at the North Shore Marketplace, and it’s still going strong 22 years later. He’s also worked with the North Shore Chamber of Commerce as a driving force behind the monthly Haleiwa Art Walk. Now held every second Saturday 3-8 pm, the Art Walk promotes art galleries along with other businesses in the downtown area.

Why art? George says you don’t have to be a gifted artist to have a lifelong appreciation like he does. After all, he says, “I believe we are all artists inside. It’s whether we reach in and pull it out, or
not.” Ever since he purchased his first painting at a Parisian artist colony, George has traveled around
the world searching out and appreciating art wherever he went.

According to George, the goals for Haleiwa Art Gallery have been very specific. Feature Haleiwa based
artists and promote diversity – different mediums and expressions from abstract to impressionism to
cubism with everything in between. The gallery started with glass sculpture, which his daughter Krista Woodward, has created since 1991. Her creations, which she entitles “Oceans in Glass,” focus primarily but not exclusively on sea life. Now the gallery has a constantly evolving and varied collection of art pieces from volcano and underwater scenes to works exemplifying the culture of the Hawaiian people, which, George says, “I’m very blessed to have in my collection.” Also included are intricate silk hand embroidery pieces from masters of a mountain enclave in Vietnam.

Recently, retired US Navy Admiral Harry Harris, now the US Ambassador to South Korea, worked with George to commission one of the gallery’s featured artists, Ed Furuike, to create a painting of koi in the palette knife style for the entrance of the US Embassy in South Korea. The artist of more than 30 years has approximately 4,000 paintings on display in corporate and private galleries throughout Hawaii and the world. His painting at the South Korean Embassy, which represents an alliance of our two nations, has reportedly been very well received.

Also of note is a special contemporary collection by young artists from Beijing entitled “Benevolence,”
which has been at Haleiwa Art Gallery since Oct. 1. “Benevolence” originally premiered at the United
Nations in New York City in support of International Peace Day on Sept. 21. The collection is dedicated to
Zhou Enlai, China’s renowned peacemaker, on his 120th birthday. It was presented in support of UN Peace Day by: Haleiwa Art Gallery; The Ambassador Calligraphy & Painting Club; La Vie Salon, Beijing; and Zhou Enlai Peace Institute and Asia-Pacific Group. Besides being dedicated to Zhou Enlai, it also celebrates the 70th anniversary of United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the 65th anniversary of the Five Principles of Peace.

In April, Haleiwa Art Gallery was named a Reader’s and Editor’s pick for a “Best of the Best” award by Hawaii Magazine. Actually, it’s mainly through word of mouth that the gallery acquires most customers and featured artists. Often local families bring in their friends and visitors, and the word spreads from there. George says artists hear through the grapevine that “I treat them very well,” and they come requesting to show at his gallery. This results in 9:30 am-to-6:15 pm days with few breaks. But at the age of 75, George has no plans to
slow down.