AuG 1 is fIRsT fRIday! onG kiNG preSents: aRT by johN ELLIot, UNO-MaS, BeaK, C. SHINN, musiC by qUadraPHOniX, miKE Love, AnnA SurentO, TRUE ReBeLZ, poetry by INTERNATIONAL CHAMPS YOUTH SpeaKs HAwaII, + HAWAii SLAM, dance by CheRRY BLossom CabareT, juGGling by SteVO the CLoWN + mc See and DJ JOULZ….aw yeah….
July 30th, 2008Event: First Friday at Ong King Arts Center
Time and Place: Ong King Arts Center, 184 N. King St., Friday, August 1st, 5pm-2am
Art gallery opening 5pm-9pm, Performance 9pm-2am
Cost: 10$ (art opening free)
Who Can Attend: All Ages!
More Info: www.ongking.com see@ongking.com,
ong king: 306-7823
FIRST FRIDAY: August 1st at Ong King Arts Center
The days are hot and long, the scene is sad with loss…
buT onG kinG firST frIDAY is aLive to puLse this community with mirth, beauty, trUTH and revelry. Three artists of diverse paths walk side by side, one is JOhn ELLioT who creates enormouS wave muraLs and underwater landscapes, then in from the strEET is UNOMAS he is accompanied by feLLow tag speciaList, BEAK. Young pianist and songwriter Anna opens the performance. Dubkonscious guitarist MIKE LOVE brings his original souND. The wordsmiths of the night are just arrived
from becoming 2008 WINNERS OF BRAVE NEW VOICES INTERNATIONAL POETRY COMPETITION: YOUTH SPEAKS HAWAII. In the dance grOOve CHerry BLossom Cabaret performs. PLus for the first time juggler: STevo the CLown. ANd back from his AustraLian tour JOnathan Heraux leads QUADRAPHONix. A new band is in the house: TRUE REbeLZ with drummer Jeffery James…oh DJ JOULZ and MC See arrive to guide these proCeedings to wakefulness. yes we can, we wiLL, be humbLe to youR becoming.
FeAture ArtIST: JOHN ELLIOT Artist, muralist and surfer - are all important monikers when describing John Elliott and his art. He’s managed to fuse all these identities cohesively into his work - large format art pieces that communicate the power and natural beauty of Hawai‘i’s waves but with a unique “surfer’s-eye view.” So, don’t expect simply pretty waves as they are seen from shore - these are from right inside the barrel itself.
Elliott produces a variety of 4’ x 5’ and 3’ and 4’ (and some smaller) single wave paintings notable for vibrant blues, greens, reds and yellows, and he frequently plays with and amplifies the natural geometries of the wave.
Many of Elliott’s pieces aren’t simply from memory - he’s an active water photographer and can often be found taking photos with a specially designed underwater housing while bodysurfing around the island to ensure his “surfers-eye” perspective. When he finds a photo that is particularly interesting, he paints it.
From a massive, powerful wave in vibrant blues and greens; to a painting of a wave with circular water spots that might be seen from a photo; to a rolling wave with an interesting perspective of land, each piece is as unique and natural as a wave.
Much of Elliott’s work - including its size - is due to his background and work as a muralist. He holds a degree in Visual and Public Art from Cal State Monterey and has produced murals in California, Hawai‘i, Boston and Israel. Two of his murals are in Honolulu, and can be seen at the entrance to the Ong King Arts Center.
EMERGING ARTIST: UNO MAS is in from the pavement..aLL I am authorized to say: stoner street artist.
Emerging ArtisT 2: BEAK, is a native street artist from Hawaii and has been getting up through work on the streets and the internet collaborations. Started with hand drawn stikers of “birds” and has naturally evoloved into all sorts of mediums both on and off streets. BEAK is lOOking to PerCH aLL over the WOrLd!!
SLAM POETRY: Youth SPeaks HawAii. Just a week ago Youth Speaks Hawaii….
WON the 2008 Brave New Voices International Poetry Competition in Washington, DC!!!
(Washington, DC) – On Saturday, July 19, at the Lincoln Theater, the five finalist youth poetry teams competed for the Grand Slam championship of Youth Speaks’ Brave New Voices, the 11th annual international youth poetry slam festival.
The five finalist teams were: Youth Speaks Hawaii (Honolulu, Hawaii) – winner;
Urban Word NYC (New York City, NY) –2nd place; Young Chicago Authors (Chicago, IL)—3rd place; Slam High (Rochester, NY)—4th place; and Philadelphia’s Youth Poetry Movement (Philadelphia, PA)—5th place.
The event was filmed live for HBO’s Teen Poetry Series, a 6-part documentary series that will air in the coming year. While HBO’s cameras rolled, projecting a live-feed to the hundreds of teen audience members in the upper balcony, the five finalist teams put on quite a show, bringing even Youth Speaks’ artistic director, Marc Bamuthi Joseph, to tears onstage. Judges included: Sonia Sanchez, legendary poet of the Black Arts movement; Miguel Algarin, founder of Nuyorican Poets Café in NYC; Joy Harjo, esteemed Native American poet; Adam Mansbach, author and poet; and Ishle Yi Park, Poet Laureate of Queens, NY.
Youth Speaks is a national non-profit organization started in San Francisco in 1996, dedicated towards building the next generation of leaders through both written and spoken word poetry.
Youth Speaks Hawai`i (YSH) is the Hawai`i branch of Youth Speaks, founded by Kealoha of the HawaiiSlam movement (the same organization that hosts First Thursdays, the largest slam poetry competition in the world). We encourage youth to find their own avenues toward creative self-expression, and embrace the collaborative nature of group dynamics and peer-to-peer education. By coupling public performance and publication opportunities with educational workshops, mentoring programs, and cooperative learning, YSH encourages active literacy, honest writing, and critical thought.
YSH FREE workshops happen every Wednesday at The Arts at Marks Garage from 4-5:30pm. The address is 1159 Nu`uanu Avenue (@ Pauahi St) in downtown Honolulu.
www.youthspeakhawaii.org
www.myspace.com/youthspeakshawaii

DANCE: Cherry BLossom CabareT, so many wonderful performers and creations have come forth since this group began two years ago. Mz FoRTUNE wiLL perform a theatrical piece entitled: Mr. Cellophane. “We get inspiration from many different areas. All of our pieces are different; political, traditional, kitschy, glamorous, humorous…That said, we are more than the traditional burlesque troupe. Our girls come from different artistic backgrounds ranging from dance, music, theater, photography, costume design, and crafting. We also have various influences from books, visual artists, film, music, etc. We have distinct personalities yet we all share a common goal: to entice, tantalize, and mesmerize our audience.
contact: lolalovecbc@yahoo.com
www.myspace.com/cherryblossomburlesque
MUSIC: ANNA arrived at opEN Stage at onG king and opened our hearts to why we have a piano. Her sounds create a timelessness that we dig to linger in.
TRUE REBELZ: this siX piece reGGae banD jumps in for the first time, with long time OPEN miC favorite, drUMMER JeFFery James, pluS a bunCH of bRother who beEn doing it since the was pre-teenagers.
MIKE LOVE: the Dubkonscious guitarist is an amazing solo musician “I am a musician, born a musician, and will be a musician long after this world is dead and gone. I make music with as many positive dedicated musicians as I can, including my band Dubkonscious, Paula Fuga, Tavana, Father Psalms Studio and more. I give thanks Iternally for the blessing and the opportunity to make music every day. I am always seeking to grow and learn new things about music and life and pray that I will always be so. Thanks for taking the time to learn about me and the music I am blessed to be a vessel for, hopefully I can return the favor sometime.”
www.myspace.com/mikelovehawaii
Quadraphonix. Jonathan Heraux returns just hours before first friday (back from the crocodiles, spiders, and smoke of Australia) to lead Quadraphonix. The quads also star, sitar player Shree Saragopan, stand-up bass player Susan Cropp, and percussionist Eli Clemens.

CIRCUS: STEVO the CLOWN….long time partner of Loco MOco arrives with glow in the dark antics to spark the night. Stevo has been performing professionally in the Hawaiian Islands for over 20 years. He can bust comedy, juggling, magic and unicycling.
plus MC SEE……..www.myspace.com/honestpuck
and DJ JOULZ……. www.strangermojo.blogspot.com/
yes more aRRives…






















































