Program Coordinator,
Associate Professor
Teaches ART 112, ART 209, ART 293, ART 294
After studying film and video at the California College of Arts and Design in Oakland, CA, she received an M.F.A. from San Francisco State University in Conceptual Design; an area that merges art, science and technology.
She has worked as the Film Program Curator at the Exploratorium in San Francisco and has curated the Today’s Avant-Garde series, a program dedicated to showing challenging and original works of film and video art for the Honolulu Academy of Arts.
Her films have been screened at the Northern California Women in Film Festival, Asian-American International Film Festival and the Ann Arbor Film Festival among others. She also works in video, installation and photography. Her work has been shown in numerous galleries and festivals, here, in the U.S.
Assistant Professor
Teaches ART 107D, ART 120, ART 125, ART 202
Meidor Hu is an interdisciplinary artist comfortable moving from paint, print, drawings or installations. Before returning to teach at Hawaii Community College and UHH, Hu worked as a graphic designer and consultant across a broad range of design-related projects in the San Francisco Bay area.
She currently teaches traditional studio art classes and digital media classes here at HawCC. Meidor received a BA from University of Hawaii at Hilo and an MFA from the San Francisco Art Institute. Her work on interdisciplinary projects has been displayed locally at the Hawaii State Museum, The Contemporary Museum, Honolulu Academy of Arts and in the continental U.S.
Her research is in the deconstruction of colors, patterns and meanings in Chinese opera painted faces. She is interested in the dislocation/relocation of the figure with painted face from the artifice of the stage to the natural environment of landscape.
Lecturer
Teaches ART 115, ART 125, ART 202, ART 238
Renee was born in Hawaii & graduated from UH Hilo with a BA in Art & received her MFA from Claremont Graduate University. She worked as a graphic artist & co-owned a gallery in Los Angeles; her works shown in Florida, L.A. & are collected internationally.
Renee enjoys creating texturally adventurous pieces. Her ever changing style, continues to show an underlying symbolism of her deep spirituality & personal diversity. Words & quotes are carefully set in her art pieces; which also characterize her evolving artistic journey. As a mixed media artist Renee is continually experimenting with a variety of unusual mediums. Her latest installation, “Life is Like a Box of Chocolates” is the first of her new series. When Renee creates new pieces, her mind’s wheel of creativity continues to turn throughout the day & long into the night.
Renee’s daughter “Katana” is the joy of her life. Renee’s near future involves raising funds for the support of women & children escaping domestic violence. Renee’s interests are colorful & eclectic: Classic Volkswagens, cheesecake bites, high technology, hats, Transformers’ “Bumblebee”, popcorn, MineCraft, pie crust manju & Michael Jackson.
Lecturer
Teaches ART 112, ART 126, ART 127
An animator, multi-media digital artist and graphics and marketing consultant. Originally from Seattle, Washington, Parente worked for several years in the aerospace and electronics industry as an interactive digital illustrator and commercial artist.
Steve is also known for his original fine art paintings and glass etching, laser cut koa bookmark designs along with his digital artwork, commercial illustration and internet marketing. He is a graduate of animationmentor.com with an advanced degree in character animation.
Lecturer
Teaches ART 107D
Documentary photographer since early 1990s, Andrzej Kramarz was employed with the daily Gazeta Krakowska (1993–1996) before taking up freelancing.
By 2001, he had his photo stories published by all major Polish weeklies (Przekrój, Polityka, Rzeczpospolita). In 2004, he enrolled at the Silesian University Institute of Creative Photography (ITF) in Opava (Czech Republic) from which he graduated in 2007 under the supervision of Vladimir Birgus. In the meantime, he worked on his photo essays and in 2005 co-founded the Imago Mundi Foundation dedicated to picture archiving and supporting creative photographers.
He has curated various photography exhibitions. The album of the exhibition Stefania Gurdowa. Negatives are to be Stored, which he authored and co-edited, was named one of the 100 best albums in 2009 by Photo-Eye Magazine.
Before he left for the United States, he worked as a lecturer at the Academy of Photography in Cracow. From 2008 to 2010, he collaborated with the Summer Cinema project at Camelot Gallery in Cracow that was dedicated to presenting the work of world-renowned photographers.
Lecturer
Teaches ART 209, ART 212, ART 293
After finishing grad school, GB moved with his young family to the Big Island of Hawai‘i, not to search for paradise but to find community. GB set myself to the task of learning Hawaiian. During that time GB spent countless hours doing video work on the active volcano, crossing active flows with the U.S. Geological Survey and burning a few pair of boots along the way. He then worked with the Hawaiian community for 12 years producing over 100 projects including the worldʻs first feature film in Hawaiian: Kaʻililauokekoa.
For the last 10 years, working with local kids, GB created the award winning movie Strange Frame starring Tim Curry (Rocky Horror Picture Show, Ferngully), Claudia Black (Stargate SG1, Farscape), George Takei (Star Trek, Heroes), and Tara Strong (My Little Pony, Princess Mononoke). Music by an award winning array of musicians including Kainani Kahaunaele and Pink Floyd!
Strange Frame won Best Feature Film at DragonCon, Best Animated Feature at Big Island Film Festival as well as recognition at other festivals and has played in a dozen countires around the world.
When GB is not making movies her work on our farm, scuba dive, and play with his kids.
Lecturer
Teaches ART 115
Born in Tokyo, Japan, Ukaji now lives and works in Hawaii. In addition to studying at the Musashino Art University in Tokyo, she earned her B.A. from the University of Hawaii at Hilo. Ukaji has exhibited her work widely in the United States and abroad, including Australia, Japan and Taiwan. Among her awards are the Roselle Davenport Award and the GYM-Honolulu Award from the Honolulu Academy of Arts.