Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
ing collections, this eclectic museum showcases modern and contemporary art from
Hawaii's multicultural communities. Although small, it inhabits a grand 1928 Spanish
Mission Revival-style building, formerly a YMCA. Upstairs are revolving exhibits of
paintings, sculptures, fiber art, photography and mixed media, while downstairs the
former swimming-pool courtyard has been transformed into an airy sculpture garden.
On display inside the indoor galleries is an intriguing mix of European, Asian and
Polynesian art forms and traditions, all having shaped a unique aesthetic that captures the
soul of Hawaii's islands. Drop by at noon on the last Tuesday of the month for free one-
hour 'Art Lunch' lectures, or from 11am to 3pm on the second Saturday for hands-on
family activities.
Mission Houses Museum
MUSEUM
(
447-3910;
www.missionhouses.org
;
553 S King St; 1hr guided tour adult/child 6-18yr & college
student with ID $10/6; 10am-4pm Tue-Sat, guided tours usually 11am, noon, 1pm, 2pm & 3pm)
Occupying the original headquarters of the Sandwich Islands mission that forever
changed the course of Hawaiian history, this modest museum is authentically furnished
with handmade quilts on the beds and iron cooking pots in the stone fireplaces. Taking a
guided tour is the only way to peek inside any of the buildings.
Protestant missionaries packed more than their bags when they left Boston; they also
brought a prefabricated wooden house, now called the
Frame House
, with them around
the Horn. Designed to withstand cold New England winter winds, the small windows in-
stead block out Honolulu's cooling tradewinds, keeping the two-story house hellaciously
hot and stuffy. Erected in 1821, it's the oldest wooden structure in Hawaii.
The 1831 coral-block
Chamberlain House
was the early mission's storeroom, a ne-
cessity because Honolulu had few shops in those days. Upstairs are hoop barrels, wooden
crates packed with dishes, and the desk and quill pen of Levi Chamberlain. He was ap-
pointed by the mission to buy, store and dole out supplies to missionary families, who
survived on a meager allowance - as the account books on his desk testify.
Nearby, the 1841
Printing Office
houses a lead-type press used to print the first Bible
in Hawaiian.
Kawaiahaʻo Church
CHURCH
(
469-3000;
www.kawaihao.org
; 957 Punchbowl St; usually 8:30am-4pm Mon-Fri, worship
service 9am Sun)
Oʻahu's oldest Christian church stands on the site where the first
Protestant missionaries built a grass-thatch church shortly after their arrival in 1821. The
